In-house vs. cloud-based web scraping, what would you opt for? Perhaps in-house scraping because of the level of control you have over the scraping process. Moreover, you might prefer to keep the entire scraping process in-house to ensure the highest level of privacy and data security.
Yes, in-house scraping offers greater control, privacy, and security. However, maintaining and scaling in-house web scraping is less feasible. Setting up an in-house scraping operation is also costly. And this is where cloud-based web scraping comes in to save the day.
Let’s explore how cloud-based web scraping solves these in-house web scraping issues. The solutions also count as the reasons to consider cloud-based web scraping.
Why Cloud-Based Web Scraping?
1. Scalability and efficiency
Compared to an in-house setup that's limited to specific hardware configurations, a cloud-based setup gives you access to vast on-demand computing power. This means you can downscale or upscale as desired, optimizing costs and ensuring optimal performance.
In addition to the liberty to scale, you don’t have to worry about hardware and software upgrades. The cloud provider eliminates the need to constantly invest in infrastructure upgrades, allowing you to focus on making payments for the valuable resources to achieve scraping objectives.
2. Accessibility and collaboration
Do you have access to a stable internet connection? Then, you can access your scraped data on any device and from anywhere. This eliminates the need for physical data transfers, empowering remote collaborations.
Any team member can access the scraping project, and share and analyze the scraped data without traveling to a central in-house repository. Do not worry. Most cloud-based web scraping tools offer robust security measures to safeguard your data.
3. Reduced maintenance and ease of use
As mentioned, the cloud provider manages the underlying web scraping infrastructure. This includes software updates, server upkeep, and fine-tuning general operations to ensure scraping engines are running smoothly. Your task is to define clear scraping goals, utilize the available resources, and make good use of the extracted data.
Besides reduced maintenance, cloud providers fit web scraping services with intuitive interfaces to streamline the scraping process. They grant you access to pre-built templates and scrapers, as well as options to build scrapers with minimal to no coding experience, easing the whole web scraping process.
4. Avoiding IP blocks
One of the most frustrating aspects of web scraping is IP blocks, especially now that several websites have implemented anti-scraping mechanisms. To deal with this issue, you must lease a pool of IP addresses to work with.
In most cases, leasing a pool of IP addresses from a proxy provider becomes costly over time, limiting scraping operations. With a cloud-based scraping setup, you rarely worry about leasing IP addresses. Most cloud providers have a vast pool of constantly rotating IP addresses to bypass IP blocks.
5. Cost-Effectiveness for occasional use
Cloud-based web scraping solutions operate on a pay-as-you-go pricing structure. So, you only pay for the resources used for a specified period. This model makes cloud-based web scraping much more cost-effective for occasional use.
Some cloud providers offer free-tier access to scraping resources. This allows you to try their services before committing, significantly optimizing cost. Moreover, if you want to run a small web scraping project, you can use the free trial before scaling the project, saving you more.
Overall, cloud-based scraping services come in different flavors, and the specific way they work varies, ultimately varying the cost saved, too! Here are popular services to choose from:
Popular Cloud-Based Web Scraping Setups or Services
1. Visual web scraping tools
Visual web scraping tools eliminate the complexities of web scraping. Rather than writing complex scripts, the cloud provider allows you access to a visual scraping tool. The tool has an intuitive point-and-click interface, letting you simply navigate the website you want to scrape and select the elements you want to extract.
Even though visual web scraping tools are suitable for beginners and those with limited coding experience, you can use them to accomplish complex scraping tasks.
Hidden, from your view, is a set of complex scraping algorithms that automatically generate the complex scraping scripts required to navigate the target website and retrieve various data points.
2. Web scraping APIs
Compared to visual web scraping tools, web scraping APIs require you to have technical know-how. You should be able to write scripts that can interact with the scraping APIs and instruct them to take the wheel and handle the scraping process.
Think of a web scraping API (Application Programming Interface) as a special toolkit for developers to build custom scraping solutions. So, you are required to customize it to your liking so that it can dispatch virtual browsers to visit a target site and extract data based on your instructions.
3. Hybrid solutions
If you are well-versed in writing web scraping scripts but still love the simplicity of a point-and-click interface, a hybrid web scraping solution is for you.
Hybrid solutions integrate a user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop functionality. So, you can build an essential web scraping tool by visually selecting the data you want to extract from a web page. And, whenever you want to extract data from a complex-structured site or require advanced data manipulation, you can switch to coding.
4. Managed scraping services
From setting up to managing the whole web scraping process, a managed scraping service takes care of everything. This service is ideal for high-volume scraping needs. It removes the worry of building a team to handle the scraping technical intricacies while you reap the benefits of the obtained data.
With little to no technical elements to handle, your in-house team can focus on building the business's core functionalities. The cloud-based service provider becomes your scraping partner, taking care of the technical part and delivering the required data in a usable format.
Closing Words
Web scraping powers lead generation, price monitoring, market research, academic research, and more business elements. However, the burning question is — How should you set up your web scraping operation? In-house or on the cloud. Use this blog post as a guide to making the correct decision.
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