The Proxy Menu

• DNS
  • DNS proxy
  • DNS Routing
  • Anti-spyware

A proxy server is a system, located between a client (who requests a web page or some resource) and the outside networks with the purpose to catch all the client’s requests, retrieve the requested resources, and transmit them to the client. The main advantage of a proxy server is its ability to cache (i.e., to store locally) all the pages that have been requested, making future requests of the same pages faster.

Transparent and Non Transparent Proxy.

A transparent proxy is a proxy system combined with a gateway: Besides retrieving and caching resources, a transparent proxy allows to carry out many useful operations on the web page or resource that the client is requesting: To filter its contents, to scan it and look for viruses, or even to block information, combining different services running on the gateway. Moreover, all these activities are accomplished without requiring the user to configure in any way the client she is using.

Non-transparent proxies on the contrary, rely on the collaboration of the client to be used, requiring that the user specify by hand the location of the proxy in the client’s setting.

The Endian 4i Edge Appliance features a DNS proxy, based on dnsmasq, that provides also anti-spyware functionalities, based on the information contained in the phishtank web site, a community-driven site devoted to inform and keep users updated about sources of phishing on the Internet.