# What is a proxy server?

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-a-proxy-server/70692>\
**Category:** random\
**Created:** [November 16, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-a-proxy-server/70692 "2004-11-16T16:18:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![GreenLantern](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/greenlantern/32/393_2.png) [@GreenLantern](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/GreenLantern)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-a-proxy-server/70692/1 "2004-11-16T16:18:23Z")

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Just wondering what exactly a proxy server is? My default settings at work use a proxy server, but it doesn’t seem to matter if I turn it on or off.

In other words…  
In firefox I have two options “direct connection to the internet” and “automatic proxy configuration URL” but it doesn’t matter if I use either one?