Is there any reason to run an http proxy? SOLVED

Fog_Watch · Last edited by Fog_Watch on Mon Mar 25, 2019 9:05 am; edited 1 time in total

A decade or so ago I put an http proxy on my small network, the purpose of which was to cache content and strip ads. It dawned on me recently (call me slow I know) none of this works any more.

I googled reasons for http proxy and every link on the first page came back as https. I rest my case. Does anyone still run an http proxy and if so why?

Fog_Watch.

Hu · Administrator Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 23071

You can still use it for crude access control. You can't know the specific URL, but you know the domain. You can also use it for restricting usage, such as limiting hours of operation (so kids cannot use the Internet after bed time) or authorized users (so only approved programs can use the network; all others get "Access Denied" regardless of where they go).

Fog_Watch · Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 10:24 pm Post subject:

Squid, as an example, is actively developed.

Jaglover · Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 10:36 pm Post subject:

I have privoxy in my router, it helps to reduce junk.
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Aiken · Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 10:46 pm Post subject:

Just ran calamaris on mine. Over the last 3 months the byte hit rate is just over 0.3%. Putting that another way the byte miss rate these days is over 99%.

I started mine in the 90's when on dialup and had a byte hit rate at least 35%. Having pictures from web sites coming from a machine in the same building vs over dial up was marvellous. Around 2000 I threw together a simple redirector for squid that I used to block domains and auto block sub domains of those domains The drop in hit rate seems to correspond with the increase in https. The effectiveness of the redirector as a filter has also been reduced at the same time.

These days the main time I rely on the squid proxy is when playing with a binary distro. I configure the package manage to use the proxy so subsequent installs come from the proxy instead of down the phone line again.

20G of cache
LRU reference age: 198.70 days
LRU reference age: 160.11 days

Used to run 40G of proxy and items would not survive that long.
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Fog_Watch · Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 11:29 pm Post subject:

Fog_Watch · Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 9:04 am Post subject: