Web Proxy Servers (Web Infrastructure Series)

Make the most of your proxy servers!

Proxy servers are critical to the success of virtually every large Web and intranet site. But managing and optimizing them has always been a black art--until now. In Web Proxy Servers, the co-developer of the first proxy server, the CERN Proxy, explains the technology in depth--and shows how to optimize any proxy server in any environment.

Understand the basic architecture of proxy servers, and compare firewall proxy servers, departmental, personal and specialized proxies. Discover how proxy servers handle every major Internet protocol, including HTTP, FTP, Gopher, News, SSL, WAIS, Telnet and LDAP. Learn how to implement filtering by URLs or PICS content ratings. Review proxy server caching in unprecedented depth, including:

• Guaranteeing the freshness of cached documents
• Measuring and optimizing cache "hit ratios"
• On-demand and on-command caching
• Web-based advertising

Discover the best proxy security solutions, including encryption and authentication. Compare proxy server configuration for Web sites, intranets, extranets, and "DNS-deprived" environments. Get troubleshooting tips and sample auto-configuration scripts. Learn all you need to know to maximize performance, including:

• Estimating loads, establishing proxy hierarchies, choosing hardware and software
• Balancing loads with Round-Robin DNS, hash-function based proxy selection, CARP, ICP, and other methods
• Using reverse proxying effectively

Web Proxy Servers is a must-have resource for all Web and intranet administrators who care about performance and security.