Unless you are an IT or MIS technician or manager, you may have never heard of proxy servers. Most non-technical employees don’t know the ins and outs of the technology systems they work with on a daily basis. In non-technical language, proxy servers are controllers or intermediaries, and can be thought of as “safety nets” or “distribution centers”. They are systems or software that sit between the user and the actual application for various purposes: to verify users and access, systems that cache data to increase access speed, a process with specific security objectives such as hiding IP addresses or verifying users upon access requests. They handle and secure incoming and outgoing traffic from local networks and the internet and secure the data and integrity of the system to which they are attached.

Proxy servers serve a dual purpose. They are used to improve efficiency and to filter data. They save time by caching info that has been requested so that the next time a user requests it, the server doesn’t have to go all the way out to the internet to retrieve it. They are also used as filters to control what kind of data is allowed and prevent harmful or dangerous data passing from users to servers.

It can be a vehicle to access an intranet externally, through the internet. A server is not intentionally left with open, unprotected, or unguarded connections to the internet – that would be like an open door. Typically the door is closed and locked, and requires a password to pass through as well. The proxy server is the closed door, lock and password between the user, the real server, and the internet, providing a variety of useful security and data access and processing purposes.

There are different kinds of proxy servers: web proxy or anonymous servers and reverse proxy servers to name a few. These web proxy or anonymous ones deal with web traffic and cache and filter web data for efficiency and security, and reverse proxy servers that sit between users on the internet, a firewall, and an internal server they are trying to access. A simple way to think of them is as the server in front of another one. They are workhorse programs and machines.

They are just one of a variety of network tools used to manage technology systems. They are different from routers, with better filtering. They have capabilities that firewalls don’t have, although they are frequently used with firewalls and managed through a gateway. They are used for caching, storing previously sourced data; sometimes multiple proxy servers are used for caching in high traffic user groups.

MIS and IT staff select, purchase or recommend purchase, install, configure, and maintain systems, including proxy servers, and other programs and hardware that make a company’s network run securely. Proxy servers are one utilitarian part of a coordinated information technology system.

For more information on proxy servers, visit http://proxy.tv

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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Think of it As a Safety Net

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