1. PROXY SERVER Kalyani Ravi

2. A proxy server is essentially an electronic gatekeeper, residing between an organization's internal network and the Internet, controlling the flow of information between the two. The three basic functions of a proxy server are: IP-Masking Data Caching Access Control

3. IP-Masking IP-address masking is a technique whereby a proxy server tricks other computer on the Internet into thinking that it is the only machine receiving or requesting information from an institution. Proxy server acts like middle man between an internal network and the internet, all requests for information are channeled through the proxy server which places the requests on behalf of user computers. Therefore proxy servers is only seen by other computers on the internet and masks the IP address of the internal computer networks.

5. As everything from or to internal network passes through proxy server it increases network security and user productivity by filtering content. Proxy servers limits access to objectionable content like viruses and HTML tags at the internet gateway by filtering URLs. proxy servers restrict unauthorized access to the internal network by authenticating users

6. Proxy Caching Proxy Server caches frequently accessed documents automatically and requests data from its source only when that source has been updated or has expired, which reduces network traffic and gives users access to fresh content without the wait. Documents or entire sites can be preloaded into the cache, and administrators can schedule updates of cached content. Whole sites can be downloaded during low- traffic periods, for example, so they're fresh when users need them. Thereby reducing network traffic on intranet and improve response time for users.

9. Access Control a proxy server provides institutions with an effective tool to provide access to remote users. An off-site (or off-campus) user connects to the Internet via an ISP and wants to connect to an IP-restricted resource. If the user were to connect to the resource directly, they would be denied access because their IP-address didn't match that of the subscribing institution. However, if the user were to connect to the institution's proxy server and validate themselves, the proxy server would then handle the flow of information between the user and the resource provider (masking the user's IP-address). As a result, the resource would see the proxy server's IP-address as valid and provide access