We have implemented a local Web Cache (also known as a Proxy Server) for
the Gifford Internet domain. In theory, use of a Web cache will improve
performance by reducing the average time taken to access popular pages on the Net.
The cache can be accessed by enabling the Proxy Server facilities within your
Web browser and specifying:
www-cache.gifford.co.uk port 3128
For those using Internet Explorer 3.x, configure the browser as follows:-
- With the browser running: Click View=>Options=>Connection
- Put a tick in the box next to "Connect through a proxy server".
- Click Settings.
- Enter www-cache.gifford.co.uk next to HTTP and 3128 under Port.
- In the box labeled "Do not use proxy server for.....", enter
www.gifford.co.uk. This will ensure that the browser will go directly
to Gifford's Web server and not fetch our pages from the cache. This is
necessary when you are developing your own pages and also allows you to
see our site updates immediately.
For those using Netscape (2.x), configure the browser as follows:-
- With the browser running: Click Options=>Network Preferences=>Proxies
- Put a dot next to Manual Proxy Configuration and click View
- Enter www-cache.gifford.co.uk next to "HTTP Proxy" and port 3128.
- In the box labeled "No Proxy for:", enter www.gifford.co.uk. This will
ensure that the browser will go directly to Gifford's Web server and
not fetch our pages from the cache. This is necessary when you are
developing your own pages and also allows you to see our site updates immediately.
The Web caching concept is fairly simple: When a Web page is requested, it is
saved to disk. If it is required again, the disk copy is used. This technique is
used in all modern browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.
Your Web browser will request pages from the local server instead of direct
from the source. The local server gets the page, saves it on disk and forwards
it to the browser. Subsequent requests from other browsers get the saved copy,
which is much faster and does not consume Internet bandwidth.
