FEATURES OVERVIEW

Netscape Proxy Server is a powerful system for caching and filtering web content and boosting network performance. It distributes and manages information efficiently so that network traffic and user wait times are reduced. Proxy Server also helps organizations ensure that users access network resources safely and productively. Tight integration with the entire network infrastructure, cross-platform support, and centralized management capabilities help to lower the cost of ownership over time.

Boosts Network Performance

The efficient caching model of Netscape Proxy Server distributes data where users need it, thus reducing both requests to remote content servers and network traffic. Proxy routing makes it possible for organizations to deploy Proxy Servers at branch offices and other network bottlenecks to benefit from caching on intranets. Caching on demand intelligently caches documents based on user requests. Batch updates also enable caching on command, so administrators can download documents or sites on a scheduled basis.

Proxy Server enhances the scalability and reliability of caching by supporting proxy arrays. This distributed caching mechanism enables multiple proxies to operate as a single logical cache for load-balancing and failover. Dynamic proxy routing allows the Proxy Server to query other caches for document availability.

Enhances Security and Productivity

Networks are only as strong as their gateway. Proxy Server enhances network security by providing a control point for Internet traffic and by logging all transactions. The fine-grained controls of Proxy Server limit access to documents or sites based on individual users, groups, IP addresses, host names, or wild card expressions. Proxy Server also provides filtering of objectionable URLs, filtering of content including viruses and HTML tags, and filtering of content types such as ActiveX. Proxy Server facilitates user access through the firewall. Organizations can tunnel protocols supported by the web proxy, or use SOCKSv5 to traverse the firewall for virtually any protocol or application. Reverse proxying lets Proxy Server act as a "web server stand-in" to accept encrypted traffic on behalf of a web server that is protected behind a firewall.

Simplifies Management

Proxy Server makes it easy for administrators to manage intelligent networks of proxy servers. Native LDAP support allows for centralized user name and password management via the built-in Netscape Directory Server. Clustered management capabilities enable administrators to configure and maintain multiple proxies. The Automatic Proxy Configuration (APC) feature of Netscape Communicator permits modifications to the proxy infrastructure without touching client software on individual desktops. Proxy Server also supports SNMP versions 1 and 2 for monitoring server status.

Netscape Proxy Server

SCALABLE AND FLEXIBLE CACHING

• Provides efficient, transparent caching on demand of web documents, automatically routing requests to Proxy Server and returning current documents from the cache
• Enables batch updates for caching on command to download documents or entire sites on a scheduled basis. Proxy Server also refreshes data in the cache at specified intervals to ensure that data is current and available for periods of heavy use
• Allows proxy-chaining for building hierarchical caches that improve performance on internal networks
• Supports Cache Array Routing Protocol (CARP), which utilizes a deterministic algorithm for dividing client requests among multiple proxies
• Supports ICP for dynamic querying of neighboring caches to determine document availability
• Minimizes network traffic resulting from HTTP-based "push" technologies

• Controls access to network resources by granting or denying access based on username and password; named groups; or IP-, DNS-, and host-based wild-card expressions
• Allows filtering based on requested URLs
• Supports third-party plug-ins with categorized lists of sites to be blocked by Proxy Server
• Enables outgoing headers to be blocked to ensure privacy. Scans incoming HTTP and FTP files for viruses with Trend Micro's built-in InterScan Virus Wall engine; and alerts administrators when a virus has been detected. Includes access to regular pattern updates
• Provides the ability to filter HTML tags and content types, such as ActiveX
• Enables and controls user access through firewalls via SOCKSv5, a standard that supports streaming protocols such as RealAudio
• Tunnels HTTPS, SNEWS, and other SSL-based protocols to facilitate encrypted communication through the firewall
• Logs all client transactions to enable auditing of user activity and provides analysis tools for summarizing server statistics
• Serves as a reverse proxy (an intermediary for all clients connecting to a protected web server). Reverse proxying provides an additional barrier for web servers and applications behind firewalls by accepting a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) session from the client and creating a new SSL session with the server

• Supports LDAP-based user/group/password management for proxy authentication
• Provides clustered configuration and management of multiple Proxy Servers
• Makes the proxy configuration transparent to end users with the APC feature of Netscape Communicator
• Provides a consistent, cross-platform, easy-to-use administration environment through HTML forms
• Encrypts communication using SSL for protected remote administration
• Supports SNMP versions 1 and 2 for standards-based, remote monitoring and management
• Enables administrators to fine-tune configurations without major planning efforts or high-risk implementations
• Offers rollback availability to the previous stable configuration

Supported Platforms and System Requirements

Vendor	Architecture	Operating System
Digital	Alpha	Digital Unix 4.0b
Hewlett-Packard	PA	HP-UX 10.10, 10.20
IBM	RS/6000	AIX 4.1, 4.2
Silicon Graphics	MIPS	IRIX 6.2, 6.4
Sun	SPARC	Sun Solaris 2.51
Intel	x486, Pentium	Windows NT 3.51, 4.0