[WEB4LIB] Re: Microsoft Proxy Server 2.0

[Jon Knight]

On Mon, 12 Apr 1999, Dan Lester wrote:
> At 07:42 AM 4/12/99 -0700, Shane Nackerud wrote:
> >        Can anyone recommend a good book on Microsoft's Proxy Server 
> > 2.0?  We are considering using a proxy server for off campus database
> > access.  Any helpwould be greatly appreciated.
> [...]
> Also, consider NOT using a proxy server for that purpose.  You'll spend 
> forever supporting people using it, helping them enter it in the browser, 
> teaching them to NOT proxy when they're doing general web surfing, etc.

We've found the exact opposite.  Once the browsers are setup using auto
proxy configs (and for our students are then locked down so they can't
dick about with the settings) they talk to the proxy just fine and we can
just forget about them.  In fact with charges for international bandwidth
set to rise in .ac.uk, there's been talking of blocking port 80 access at
the site router so that only the Squid caches can talk to the outside
world.

Our problem is that lots of external web based data services don't react
well with proxies/caches in the way.  We in the library liaise with the
cachemaster so that the campus Squid caching proxy can be kept up to date
with exceptions that must be passed straight through.  These are usually
remote databases/services that do "authentication" based on IP address
(yeah, I know, its about as secure as a wet paper bag but publishers like
it for some reason).

If you're putting in a proxy just for off campus database access you might
find that you're wasting your time (depending on what remote databases
you're talking to). YMMV, etc, etc. 

Tatty bye,

Jim'll