How to Set Up Your Own

Personal Elite Proxy Server

On a Bare-Bones Remote-Hosted Virtual Private Server
Note: This updated version is no longer control panel dependent, which makes finding a VPS hosting company much much easier than it used to be (ie, more hosting companies to choose from). As a result, there are no longer any icons to click because all work is done in a single utility (a free SSH client) and thus, typing & pasting is all that's required.

1 VPS HOSTING REQUIREMENTS 2 FILLING OUT THE VPS ORDER FORM 3 DOWNLOAD FREE SSH CLIENT 4 OPEN PUTTY & LOGIN TO YOUR VPS 5 LET'S GET STARTED SETTING UP YOUR PROXY 6 EDIT SQUID CONFIGURATION FILE WITH NANO 7 IF YOU NEED TO ADD EXTRA IP ACCOUNTS 8 CONFIGURE BROWSER CONNECTION SETTING 9 CONFIGURE TORRENT CONNECTION SETTING 10 HYPER PARANOIA MODE: ELITE + ENCRYPTED 11 BASIC TROUBLE SHOOTING

VPS HOSTING REQUIREMENTS

The first step is to find yourself a bare-bones Unmanaged Virtual Private Server (VPS) Account, which will likely be the most time-consuming part of this entire process. Typically the cheapest versions of these can be found for less than about $10 per month, and will already have one private ip address already assigned to it. Extra ip's on the same VPS are generally between about $1 to $2 per month, per ip address.

Please understand that VPS hosting companies are different than website hosting companies. You need a host that specifically rents VPS's (and even more specifically, unmanaged vps's). These are the Two Specs Needed:
#1 Unmanaged Linux VPS (w/ root access) #2 Has option to choose Ubuntu as the Operating System -Any version of Ubuntu is fine but, if possible: I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY Recommend Ubuntu 8.04 Most VPS hosting companies will have several versions of the same VPS, with varying amounts of RAM & Bandwidth. Typically the cheapest one is all that you will need (which is roughly 128Meg RAM, & 100GB bandwidth). Below is a link is to a vps hosting forum where vps hosting companies go to post special deals for developers, and it's a great place to start your search. Note: These guys are NOT typically looking to rent their vps's out for use as proxies, so try to be discreet. A good search string to start with might be unmanaged + vps. And although most hosts do offer Ubuntu OS's, you could also try unmanaged + vps + ubuntu: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=104 You can also just use the same search strings on google; especially if you're looking for ip's from a specific place, (UK for example, or Dallas) try (unmanaged + vps + UK + data center) or (unmanaged + vps + dallas + data center). Google's paid results (the text ads on the right-hand side of the page) often give good results too, but I've noticed lately that most of the hosting companies that show up in those paid results have really strict policies regarding adding extra ip addresses. If you don't need multiple ip's then that's obviously not an issue for you, but if you do need multiple ip's, just be sure to check the host's extra ip policy prior to ordering.

BONUS: POTENTIAL VPS HOST LIST

THESE WARNINGS BELOW ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT WARNING #1: I do NOT update this list. Sometimes I add hosting companies to it, but I will very, very rarely (if ever) remove hosting companies from it. So ... at the time I added any of the individual hosting companies below to this list, they DID have the specs we needed, and they DID have at least one cheap vps option at or under $10 per month. However, that all may have changed since then. Do NOT just pick one blindly. Do a little research and check to make sure the specs (discussed in the section above this one VPS Hosting Requirements) still match up. WARNING #2: This list is ABSOLUTELY NOT AN ENDORSEMENT, nor even a suggestion for ANY host on it. At the time I made this list, I had personally used some of these hosts, but there are also several that I hadn't ever personally used, and thus, I CANNOT vouche for, nor specifically recommend ANY hosting company on this list. A Few Potential Hosts to Get You Headed in the Right Direction: (in no particular order) This is by no means an exhaustive list; it only took me about 30 minutes to compile it from a simple google search, and then to check the specs for each one. If you don't immediately see the specs needed, I generally just click the order button instead of reading all around forever, because when you click the order button, you can quickly see the configurable options (ie, operating system ubuntu). And if an order form tries to make me place the order before I'm allowed to pick the operating sytem, then I just leave the site immediately and move on to the next host. http://www.intovps.com/ http://www.photonvps.com/ http://www.theserverexperts.com/ http://curlhost.com/openvz-dallas.php http://webedgehosting.com/linux_vps.php http://www.hostfolks.com/hosting/vps/ https://www.ramhost.us/?page=virtual-dedicated-server http://vpsnoc.com/Unmanaged_VPS.html http://reloadin.com/portfolio/onshore-virtual-private-server-vps/ http://cs-squad.net/?id=vps http://www.elitedatahosting.com/vps.html http://www.hudsonvalleyhost.com/unmanagedvps.html http://zensix.com/ http://vpsville.ca/vps-plans https://nordicvps.com/openvz.html http://www.hdvps.com/ http://www.burst.net/linvps.shtml

FILLING OUT THE VPS ORDER FORM

The order forms of different hosts will vary slightly; some of them will have the entire order form on a single page, others will go through the process in multi-page steps, but basically they all ask for the same information. Hostname/Domain: The first thing most order forms ask for is how you'd like to handle the domain, but since we are NOT hosting a website, we do NOT need a domain. If a host does ask for this info, generally they will give you three options; either to have them register a new domain for you, to transfer your current domain to them, or that you will register the domain yourself later. Choose that last option, and enter a fake domain (randomdomain.com). Or, if given the option, just skip ahead (some hosts require it, some don't). Name Servers: As with the domain, we do NOT care about Name Servers (NS) because we are NOT setting up a website, so again, if a host does ask for this info, just enter fake data. Enter ns1 in the first field & ns2 in the second field. Or, if given the option, just skip ahead (some hosts require it, some don't). Operating System: Ubuntu (any version). And you do NOT need a package configuration. For example, you do NOT need Ubuntu w/LAMP or Ubuntu w/JOOMLA, etc.. Just get the simplest looking version name of Ubuntu. And if it has both a 32bit and a 64bit version, I usually just use 32bit, but either one is perfectly fine). NOTE: If Possible, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY Recommend Ubuntu 8.04 VPS Location: If given this option, choose the city you want. Root Password: Enter a password that you will remember. Username: Enter a username (myvps for example). It's probably best to avoid making any reference to a proxy or related. Extra IP Addresses: If you want to put extra ip's on the same vps, just choose the number of extra ip's you want, if not, then just leave it as-is. Leave everything else on the order form as-is, You do not need to change anything else ...

NOTE: If you try to put more than 10 or 20 extra ip's on the same vps, most hosts will require you to justify why you need so many ip's. For this reason, I don't suggest trying to put too many ip's on the same vps, because I'm turning your vps into a proxy and I want lots of fake ip's is NOT justification and will likely get you banned.

NOTE: Hosting companies are hyper vigilant about fraud, so if you are not currently in the same city that your bank/credit card company has on file for you, then they will flag your order as fraud, and it will be annoying trying to explain yourself (which is fitting because they know where you are because of your ip address). When filling out your billing address, again, try to make sure it's the same billing address as your credit card. Some companies will also call you on the phone with a verification pin. To help possibly avoid all this, either place your order from your home city or try using your Paypal account instead of a credit card.
Once you've successfully placed the order, the hosting company will send you an email (usually within about 5-min to 24-hrs) telling you that your vps is ready to use. The email will have Your VPS's Main IP Address & Your VPS's Root Password. You will need both in order to login to your vps and start turning it into a private proxy server.

NOTE: If you ordered extra ip's, typically it will take the hosting company longer to add extra ip's onto the vps than the initial vps setup takes, and thus, the extra ip's will not be loaded yet when they send you the VPS Ready email. WAIT until ALL of your ip's are loaded onto the vps BEFORE you begin working on it. If you haven't gotten confirmation that the extra ip's have been added within about 24 hours, either reply to their original email, or login to your account at their website and open a support ticket asking if the extra ip's have been loaded, or when, and what they are.

PING YOUR IP ADDRESS(ES) TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE ACTIVE

It will likely save you a great deal of frustration if you test (ping) your ip address(es) to see that the hosting company has actually activated them, BEFORE you begin setting up your proxy server. Otherwise, you could set the whole thing up perfectly, and find out afterward that it doesn't work (and think that you did something wrong while setting up the proxy server). To ping your ip's go to http://just-ping.com/ and individually paste in each ip address. Some minimal packet loss from some locations is fine, but if you get 100% packet loss, you'll know that your ip has NOT been activated yet. When contacting the hosting company to resolve this, be sure to mention that you've already ping-ed the ip's and got 100% packet loss.

Once all IP's are good, move to the next step...

DOWNLOAD FREE SSH CLIENT

Windows Users Download PuTTY here http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/putty.exe MAC users can substitute w/ JellyFiSSH http://www.grepsoft.net/jellyfissh.html

When PuTTY opens, the default screen (Session) will have three (3) form fields you need to fill in. (Host Name = VPS's Main IP Address), (Port = 22), (Connection Type = SSH radio button). Leave everything else as-is & click the OPEN Button

OPEN PUTTY & LOGIN TO YOUR VPS

LET'S GET STARTED SETTING UP YOUR PROXY

If you've entered the correct ip address (and if the host actually did set it up already) a black shell will open asking you to login. For example...

NOTE: From this point on, ONLY type the white text (ie, NOT the gray text) and then hit the enter key on your keyboard after each command.

login as: root

enter

password: { Type the vps's root password from the hosting email }
NOTE: Whenever you type passwords into PuTTY you will NOT be able to see what you're typing in, and the cursor will NOT move.

enter

:~# cd /etc/apt

enter

:/etc/apt# apt-get install wget

enter

:/etc/apt# wget http://www.elite-proxy-server.com/proxy.sh

enter

:/etc/apt# chmod a+x proxy.sh

enter

:/etc/apt# ./proxy.sh

enter

This last command will trigger the script, wait for it to finish, and if it stops and asks you a question during the process, type the letter y and hit the ENTER key again. You will know when the script is finished because it will ask you to enter a password (then hit enter key) and then re-enter the same password to verify (then hit enter key again). This is the password you will use when switching ip's in your web browser (so make it an easy one to remember). I've set this script to create one ip account (account1), but we will cover adding more ip accounts in a later step. If the passwords do NOT match, you will get an error message (just do it again). If the passwords DO match, it will display... Adding password for account1 When you've entered and re-entered the password correctly for account1, the script will run a bit longer, and then automatically open a GNU named nano right inside the same PuTTy shell. This is basically just a file editor that allows us to edit a file named squid.conf (that the script installed earlier). Editing this squid.conf file is required so that you can plug your vps's main ip address, into this squid.conf file (and later, so that you can add more ip accounts).

EDITING SQUID.CONF WITH NANO

Nano file editor will open the squid.conf file right inside the PuTTY shell, but moving

around inside the file takes some getting used to, because you will NOT be able to use your mouse. To move around inside the file with nano, you need to use the arrow keys on your keyboard. However, the enter key & backspace key work just as you would expect them to. And to paste, just move the cursor where you want it, and right-click (ie, there is no option to click the word paste; right-clicking does it all). Enter Your Main IP Address into squid.conf: Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, scroll down to the following section of the file, and using the backspace key on your keyboard, clear out and replace the XXXXXXXX's with your vps's main ip address. For example, change this... tcp_outgoing_address XXXXXXXXXXXX user1

to this... (but with your own new ip address, not this one)
tcp_outgoing_address 234.234.234.234 user1

After you've replaced the XXXXXXXX's with your main ip address (ie, once you've finished editing the squid.conf file) hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and hit the X key on your keyboard (ie, CTRL X). If asked to save changes, type y wait a few seconds, then hit ENTER. That series will save the edited squid.conf file and exit the nano file editor inside PuTTY (but PuTTY itself will remain open, and the proxy.sh script will continue running, which will restart squid automatically).

Wait for it to finish restarting, and then...

That's it, you're done. Your Private Proxy Server is Now Ready to Use! Skip to the final step to see how to switch ip's in your browser.

IF YOU NEED TO ADD EXTRA IP ACCOUNTS

Open & Login to PuTTy again as you did in the beginning, and type in the following.... # htpasswd /etc/squid3/squid_passwd account2 enter

It will ask you to enter a password again (as before), and then ask you to re-enter the password (as before). Note: As a personal preference, I generally use the same password for every ip account to avoid mixing them up. But if you choose to use different passwords for each ip account, make sure you match them up correctly (ie, this password goes with ip account1, and this password goes with ip account2, etc..).

Repeat as many times as you have ip addresses. For example...

# htpasswd /etc/squid3/squid_passwd account3 [password] enter [re-password] enter # htpasswd /etc/squid3/squid_passwd account4 [password] enter [re-password] enter enter enter

Remember, if you ordered 10 extra ip's (for example) you actually have a total of 11 ip's (the main ip + the 10 extra).

Once you've added all the extra ip accounts, you'll need to edit the squid.conf file again...
But this time you'll need to open the nano file editor manually by typing...
# nano /etc/squid3/squid.conf enter

* You didn't have to do this the first time, because I had it included in the proxy.sh script, but this time you won't be running the proxy.sh script).
When nano opens the squid.conf file, follow the pattern below to account for the same number of ip accounts you just added above. Add in all the parts in yellow text once each, for each ip needed. This is Extremely Important, follow the pattern exactly.

acl user1 proxy_auth account1 acl user2 proxy_auth account2 tcp_outgoing_address 234.234.234.234 user1 tcp_outgoing_address 234.234.234.235 user2 acl manager proto cache_object http_access allow ncsa_users http_access allow user1 user2 http_access allow all

When finished editing (adding), hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and hit the X key on your keyboard (ie, CTRL X). (As you did earlier) If asked to save changes, type y wait a few seconds, then hit ENTER. That will save the edited squid.conf file and exit the nano editor inside PuTTY (but PuTTY itself will remain open). Now just restart squid manually by typing... # /etc/init.d/squid3 restart enter

Note: Any time you edit the squid.conf file, Squid will need to be restarted as above.

Wait for it to finish restarting, and then...

That's it, you're done. Your Private Proxy Server is Now Ready to Use!

CONFIGURE BROWSER CONNECTION SETTINGS

In the top right corner of every page on my website Elite-Proxy-Server.com you will see the IP address that your browser is currently broadcasting (which should still be your real IP address). On Firefox toolbar (other browsers vary slightly), click: Tools >> Options >> Advanced (tab) >> Network (sub-tab) >> Settings (button)

Select the 4th choice down Manual Proxy Configuration. After HTTP Proxy, paste in one of your new ip addresses. After Port, type in 3128, Check the box labeled Use this proxy server for all protocols. Don't change anything else, click "OK" and "OK" again.

Now just Refresh the webpage in your browser and a login will pop up.

Type in the username for your first ip account (account1) and the password you assigned to account1 when you were configuring the proxy server in putty. After you click the OK button to login, and the page refreshes, you will see that your ip address (displayed in the top right corner of my website) has now changed to the proxy server's (account1) ip address instead of your real one. To switch back to NOT connecting through the proxy, Just follow the same path as above but this time put it back the way it was (i.e., select the top choice: No Proxy) Alternately: This simple little firefox add-on is perfect for switching ip's quickly (ie, without needing all those steps above every time you switch). It's free. It's what I use, plus it clears cookies automatically when you switch ip's (if you set it to). This is the link to my instructions for using it: http://www.elite-proxy-server.com/multiproxy-switch-firefox-add-on.php And this is the link to the actual add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7330/

CONFIGURE TORRENT CONNECTION SETTINGS

Alternately/Additionally: If you use a torrent client (uTorrent or bitTorrent for example) for downloading, you'll need to change the connection settings for them as well (ie, if you want your torrent downloads to go through the proxy too). This is the link to the page on my website with screenshots: http://www.elite-proxyserver.com/torrent-proxy-servers.php

BASIC TROUBLE SHOOTING

Once you get your proxy server set up and working, you shouldn't ever need to do anything else with it to keep it running. I have proxy servers that have been running perfectly for years from the original one-time setup. However, there are a few circumstances under which the proxy may stop working, all of which are related to the vps server account. Hosts obviously don't want their servers going down, and take many steps to avoid having that happen, but on occasion servers do go down or get interrupted somehow. And if your hosting company's servers go down or get interrupted, it's likely that your vps will be reset back to it's original configuration (ie, back to the way it was before you set up your proxy on it). This happens very rarely, but if it does happen it's not a big issue. All unmanaged vps servers have some type of control panel used to control the vps. We don't need the control panel in order to set up a proxy server on it, so I haven't mentioned it until now, but your host should have sent you a linking address to your vps's control panel in the same email that had your main ip address and root password. Just follow that link, and login to your vps's control panel using the username & root password (from that same email) and there will likely either be icons or text links (depending on which control panel your host uses). The first one to try is the one labeled something like Reboot VPS or Restart VPS. Rebooting the vps may be enough to get the proxy running again. If rebooting does not fix the problem, you'll have to rebuild the vps (and then set up your proxy all over again via this tutorial). To do that just click the icon or text link labeled something like, Rebuild VPS or Reload OS or Rebuild Operating System which will likely ask you to choose the operating system again (ie, Ubuntu 8.04 or 8.10). Just do that and wait for it to finish. Don't get impatient because rebuilding the vps often takes several minutes, so don't navigate away from the page nor refresh it or anything like that. Just wait until it finishes, and then set up your proxy again like you did the first time using this tutorial. If you have any problems with any of the things mentioned here, just login to your account at the hosting company's website and either open a support ticket or contact them via email. For example, you can ask them what the link to your control panel is or, how to login to the control panel, or how to reboot the vps, or how to rebuild it. Remember though; they do NOT know that you have a proxy set up on the vps (and even if they allow proxies, that part has nothing to do with them) so DON'T say, my proxy stopped working, instead say, my VPS stopped working. As a last resort, you can always just order another vps from them (or someone else), cancel the one that's not working, and then set up the proxy again on the new vps.

HYPER PARANOIA MODE: ELITE + ENCRYPTED

There seems to be a lot of (unwarranted in my opinion) hype lately about VPN's (ie, virtual private networks) [not to be confused with a VPS which is a remote server partition]. What you need to understand is that a VPN is NOT an elite proxy, in fact; it's not a proxy at all. In essence, all a VPN really does is encrypt your connection. Now I don't really have anything against VPN's per say, except that they're really expensive and they use a ton of computing resources (ie, your connection is slowed significantly because it takes a lot of work to accomplish encrypting the connection). Traditionally, (since an elite proxy server completely & undetectably hides you) elite proxy users have no need for the added resource drain of encrypting the connection. However, all this hype about VPN's has everyone thinking they want encryption too. As a result I'm introducing Elite Hyper Paranoia Mode (and it's completely free, so you don't have to go paying for a VPN). It's the best of both worlds. You get the undetectability of a high anonymous elite proxy server, and the encryption of a VPN. I'm not taking credit for the encryption part of this; I'm just introducing you to a free encryption tool: Proxy Firewall. By loading your elite proxy's ip address into Proxy Firewall (ie, instead of loading it directly into your web browser) you accomplish encrypting your elite proxy connection. Note however, that Proxy Firewall still requires the same extra cpu resources to encrypt the connection that a VPN would, so your connection will be slower than it is just using the elite proxy alone. And also note that Proxy Firewall will NOT work for every website, nor for every program you try to run through it (for example, I haven't had much luck trying to run utorrent through it). So there you have it; Avoid all the hype and expense of a VPN by just encrypting your elite proxy connection (for free) instead. To set up Proxy Firewall, just add your elite proxy's ip address under the manual proxies tab in the proxy firewall program, and then set your browser to use that proxy in the rules tab in the proxy firewall program. Note: In my opinion (to the average elite proxy user) this is almost completely useless and a waste of resources, but if you absolutely feel that you need your anonymous undetectable connection to be encrypted, you can download Proxy Firewall for free from their site here: http://uniqueinternetservices.com/proxy-firewall-download.html

BONUS CHAPTER: Doing the Math

Craigslist Proxies 101

Note: Most of you will have no reason to read this section. For basic privacy, online anonymity, website unblocking, ISP bypassing, torrent downloading and such; ONE IP Address is all you will likely need. This section is exclusively referring to people using their elite proxy server for posting classified ads. Let's start by figuring out how many ip addresses you need Note: Some people suggest 48hr gaps (x2) . But I suggest 72hr gaps (x3).
Number of ads you want to post per day Number of ads you want to post per day Number of ads you want to post per day Number of ads you want to post per day 1 3 5 x3 = x3 = x3 = x3 = _ 3 9 15 IP's Needed. IP's Needed. IP's Needed. IP's Needed.

Example of 3 ads per day

3 Ads x3 = 9 IP's (which also obviously means 9 totally separate CL accounts too)
1st day IP #01 IP #02 IP #03 IP #04 IP #05 IP #06 IP #07 IP #08 IP #09 2nd day 3rd day 4th day 5th day 6th day 7th day 8th day 9th day

x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x

As illustrated in the example chart above:

On March 1st you would post one ad using IP address #01, #04, and #7 (3 ads total) On March 2nd you would post one ad using IP address #02, #05, and #8 (3 ads total) On March 3nd you would post one ad using IP address #03, #06, and #9 (3 ads total) On March 4th you start over again following the same pattern... Extend your own chart out as far as the number of IP's you've calculated to need. Note: An elite proxy server (ie, having use of multiple ip addresses) is just a tool, and it's just one small piece of the CL puzzle. None of this guarantees that your ads will stick. You still have to beat all of their other nuances. If you burn an IP, stop using it and work another one into your rotation. In a lot of ways, this is more art than science.

How to Get the Number of IP's You Need

There is no one-size-fits-all answer here, because not only do different posters have different needs, but CL itself has different rules for different sections (not to mention constantly evolving rules ). #1: The easiest, cheapest, fastest way, is to get one VPS (which already comes with one ip address on it) and then have the host add all the extra ip's onto that same VPS. Most hosts generally only charge an extra dollar or two per extra ip address. It's always a good idea to check a hosts extra ip rates prior to signing up with them. Some hosts will let you put a lot of ip's on the same VPS, but others will restrict you to a small number of ip's. Again, just make sure find that out before you sign up with them. The easiest way to do that is often to just look on their order form. If they have an Extra IP's drop down menu with a bunch of different options (ie, quantities), it generally means that they're fairly liberal with their ip's. Cons: The main drawback with doing it this way is that it many cases, your ip addresses will be mostly sequential. Sometimes that matters, sometimes it doesn't matter at all; it all depends on your unique situation. Check to see if sequential ip's work for your postings or not. If they do, then you're very happy because (as stated) this is the easiest, cheapest, fastest way to get multiple fake ip's. #2: The slower, but safer way, is to do the same as above, but instead of adding all your extra ip's at the same time; spread out the adding of extra ip's over time. Hosting companies get their ip addresses is giant sequential blocks called C-Blocks (roughly 250 ip's). The trick here is to add your extra ip's one at a time from a new cblock each time. So the most you will ever have to wait is less than 250 ip's worth. For example, if the first extra ip you order ends up being the first one in the c-block you will have to wait for roughly 249 more ip's to run through their system before they get to the next c-block. On the other hand, if the first extra ip you add ends up being the

249th one in the c-block, you will only have to wait for roughly one more ip to run through their system. (and everything in between obviously). Now the tricky part is that you will not know where your ip lands in the c-block so you will have to test it out for each vps host you use. More successful hosts (ie, hosts that sell a lot of servers & ip's) will go through ip's a lot faster than a host that doesn't sell a lot of servers & ip's. Over time you will start to get a feel for how quickly certain hosts go through their ip's. Some hosts may go through whole c-blocks in one day, others may take a month or more. You just have to test it. Caveat #1: If you use multiple hosting companies, you can get the total number of IP's you want much faster. While waiting for host #1 to get through a c-block, you can order an extra one from host #2, and then from host #3, etc, etc.. Caveat #2: Most hosts will have their extra ip's coming out of a different block than their main ip's. What that means is that you can usually get your main ip address and one extra ip address to be non-sequential when you first place the vps order. Cons: As discussed, this process takes longer and requires that you test the host to get a feel for how quickly it goes through c-blocks. #3: The Best Way (the safest way), is to use a bunch of different hosting companies and only get one (or two, *see caveat #2 above) ip(s) from each host. This is the method I most highly recommend. Obviously, different hosting companies cannot be using the same c-blocks, and thus the ip's will be very very different. And if you're lucky, you can get one main ip and one extra ip from each host (see caveat #2 above) and thus cut the number of hosts you need in half. For example, if you need 12 ip addresses, you rent one vps with one ip address on it, from 12 different hosting companies. Or (if caveat #2 above works) one vps with two ip's on it, from 6 different hosts. Cons: Although this is by far the safest method, it's also more expensive than the others, and requires you to have multiple vps accounts (which means doing the proxy set up multiple times, ie, once each per vps). And if the CL category you post in requires that all your ip's are from the same geo-location, then it will be much more difficult to find enough hosts (if you don't know test it). Some categories don't use geo-targeting, and thus you can use ip's from different cities (ie, much easier to find a bunch of hosts). Make no mistake; this IS the proper way to do it. This is by far the safest way. You get what you pay for. If the first two methods fail; use this one. Final Note: NEVER use the same ip address on more than one CL account (ie, you need separate CL accounts for each ip). ALWAYS clear cookies BEFORE switching ip's.

If You'd Rather Have Us Set Up Your Private Proxy Server for You
The tutorial above is very likely the cheapest, quickest, and simplest way to set up your own personal proxy server on your own, but I do realize that some of you would rather just hire us to set it up for you (which also includes finding a hosting company for you). Our setup fee for this service is currently a one-time $60 base rate for 1vps set up w/ 1ip address on it. If you want extra ip's on the same vps, then add $5 each per extra ip. And yes, the price you've already paid for this do-it-yourself-tutorial will be deducted from our set up fee. These fees are negotiable if you're setting up multiple proxy servers on multiple vps's, or if you have something attractive to trade (like permanent backlinks from a high PR website or blog). Typically we can get your private proxy server all set up and tested for you within about a day or two, depending mostly upon how soon you get back to us with the vps login details from the hosting company.