RE: Reverse proxy ??

["Eric Toll" <etoll () syracusesupply com>]

Again the reverse proxy example I gave (Example being the key word) was NOT a definition.
Read it again, and think is this an example or a definition?  I would have thought that
the "gee wilickers" might have tipped you off that It was an example.

Yes I am probably at fault for putting the colons after the words..... (definition like)

Ahem. 

I am merely showing by one Example what it can do, because this is more real
world to me... Which is not to say that it does not do what you all are so focused on, It Does.

I don't have a real time e.commerce system needing a reverse proxy, where the web server is inside the firewall.
So my (real world) Example (In Accordance with Novell Terminology) was posted.

Which I have most graciously posted again.  


HTTP Accelerator or Reverse Proxy

The proxy server can be configured as an HTTP accelerator to protect an intranet server from the Internet and
reduce the load on the public Web servers maintained on the intranet. HTTP acceleration, also known as reverse
proxy cache acceleration or Web server acceleration, creates a front-end processor to a Web server. An HTTP
accelerator server lies between one or more Web servers and the Internet and represents the Web servers to any
clients accessing them. An HTTP accelerator can also be used to create a local mirror site of a remote server.

When the Internet user queries DNS for the Web server address, it returns the address of the requested Web
server. The HTTP accelerator listens for HTTP requests on port 80 (or another configured port) and processes all
incoming Web requests. Requests for objects that can be cached---static information that does not change often,
such as HTML pages and GIF images---are processed by the proxy. Requests for objects that cannot be
cached---dynamic information that changes frequently---are processed by the origin Web server on port 80. In
general, approximately 90 percent of a typical Web server content is static and 10 percent is dynamic.

You can set up an HTTP accelerator server to retrieve information or references to cachable objects from a Web
server and cache the information on a BorderManager server. This reduces loading on the Web server. The
HTTP accelerator server forwards only requests and references that are not in the cache to the Web server.

If your site receives requests for a high percentage of objects that can be cached, the HTTP accelerator reduces
the Web load. For even greater performance, you can cache objects of a more volatile nature, such as stock
quotes, and specify an accuracy delay time to users.

BorderManager reverse proxy can handle more TCP connections than an origin Web server (typically UNIX or
Windows NT).

HTTP acceleration has the following benefits:

     Provides caching for Web servers 
     Reduces the load on the Web servers and speeds them up 
     Protects Web servers 
     Protects IP networks in conjunction with the other BorderManager services





> > > Don Tuer <dtaadv () ionsys com> 11/03/99 11:28AM >>>
Hello:

 I have to humbly disagree with Eric's definition of what Reverse Poxy is.
His definition actually describes what I would call HTTP acceleration or
on-command caching. "In on-command caching, the proxy server is setup to
automatically retrieve certain pages, or entire sites, at regular intervals."1

Reverse Proxy: Reverse proxy caching acts as a front end to publishing
servers. In the reverse proxy scenario, the reverse proxy server acts as a
proxy for the server, the proxy services requests on behalf of the server.

Don

1: Web Proxy Servers, Ari Luotonen,  ISBN 0-13-680612-0




At 12:11 PM 11/2/99 -0500, you wrote:
> I feel no one has clearly said what a Reverse Proxy is.
>
> Proxy: is a entity which takes client requests, 
> goes and gets it on the net and saves it to its disk, (in case anyone else
wants the same item - caching) 
> then serves it up to the client.  (FTP, WWW, etc)
>
> Reverse Proxy:   Gee wilickers I've got 200+ users going out to a large
web site all the time.  I know
> what to do, I'll cache the whole site  and I'll tell the proxy server (on
my users behalf) to 
> go out and start copying the whole entire site at midnight, tell it not to
expire for 4 days, and save all this 
> info to the proxy servers disk array.  Now when everyone starts hitting
this particular site,  the content
> is served up via high speed local net, instead of going out across the
internet connection.
> Walter is right, I just thought I'd provide a real world example.
>
>
>
> > > > "Joe Ippolito" <joe () joesnet com> 10/31/99 09:33PM >>>
> which may actually be more than one web server behind your firewall acting
> in a round-robin mode?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-firewall-wizards () lists nfr net 
> [mailto:owner-firewall-wizards () lists nfr net]On Behalf Of Walter Boyd
> Sent: Saturday, October 30, 1999 3:02 AM
> To: firewall-wizards () nfr net 
> Subject: Re: Reverse proxy ??
>
>
> Reverse Proxy, sometimes referred to as Web Acceleration, is the capability
> of taking an address outside your firewall, mapping it to a web server
> inside the firewall, and performing transparent caching of the web servers'
> static content in the process. The DNS address for the web server is the
> proxy address outside the firewall.
>
> Walter Boyd
> http://www.certifiednets.com/ 
>
> > > > Sandy Green <sand232 () yahoo com> 10/28/99 05:27PM >>>
> There was a quetion here in this list about MS Proxy
> server with one or two NIC cards. In that context it
> was highlighted that with one NIC card "reverse
> proxy" will not be possible.
>
> But can someone explain as to what is reverse proxy ?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> =====
>
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