Proxy Server Services

What is a proxy server?

A web proxy server sits between a client application, such as a Web browser, and a real server. It intercepts all requests to the real server to see if it can fulfill the requests itself. If not, it forwards the request to the real server. A cache server can retrieve web pages and data locally if available. If it is not, the cache will fetch it from the web site and download a copy of it to disk and route a second copy to the desktop user. 

Computers include caches at several levels of operation, including cache memory and a disk cache.

World Wide Web technology (HTTP publishing and browsing) has become so popular that the increasing traffic volume threatens to overwhelm the networking capacity in place within corporate Intranets and on the Internet. Web caching products are a key solution to this problem.

Caching can greatly speed up Internet access. If one or more Internet sites are frequently requested, they are kept in the proxy's cache, so that when a user requests them, they are delivered directly from the proxy's cache instead of from the original Internet site.

• Caches diminish the need for network bandwidth, typically by 35% or more, by reducing the traffic from browsers to content servers.

• Caches can make even more dramatic improvements in the Quality of Service (QoS) for browser users by delivering content at higher bandwidth and reducing transmission delays (latency).

• Caches gather superior network management information that allows for smarter network management.

The PowerElf II server appliance includes a high-performance proxy caching server for web clients, supporting FTP, gopher, and HTTP data objects. The proxy keeps meta data and hot objects cached in RAM. It also caches DNS lookups, supports non-blocking DNS lookups, and implements negative caching of failed requests. In addition, the cache services supports extensive access controls, and full request logging. It also includes a web content filter that uses the proxy services.

For more information about the PowerElf II proxy appliance visit our products web page.

Top