Proxy Analysis
Proxy servers are considered the "gatekeepers" of the Internet. They stand over the virtual thresholds of most large businesses and organizations, recording the external activities of every computer "living" inside their walls and screen computers from outside their walls trying to enter.
Proxy servers act as an intermediary between client computers inside their network and all external servers. For example, when a client computer requests a page from an external server (for instance, www.activeconcepts.com), the computer's request is directed to its proxy server first.
The proxy server is asked, in essence, "Do you have the Quest Software home page stored in your memory?" If the answer is no, the proxy server connects with Quest Software's server, records the home page in its own memory and then serves that data to the computer which made the original request.
From that point on, if the original client or any other computer within the proxy network requests the Quest Software home page, the proxy server will be able to answer "yes" when asked whether or not it has the page stored in its temporary memory (or "cache").
Instead of having to connect with Quest Software's server again, the proxy server merely serves the copy of the home page already stored in its cache to the user's browser.
Proxy systems have two primary advantages. First, eliminating the need to query external servers for cached pages increases browsing speed and even allows pages to be viewed when a web site's true server is offline. The speed advantage is the reason large ISPs (such as America Online) place their customers behind huge proxy servers.
Second, since proxy servers keep a detailed record (log) of all pages they have been asked to serve in the past, they allow organizations to track everything their employees are viewing on the Internet. If necessary, they can even be used to block access to certain web sites or groups of web sites.
Large organizations can end up with a great deal of raw data concerning employee Internet usage, but often have difficulties converting it into readable, usable information.
Proxy analysis programs like Funnel Web Enterprise provide a solution. Funnel Web Enterprise is capable of analyzing proxy log files as easily as it analyzes web site log files. Simply feeding it an accumulated proxy log will cause the program to produce its unique range of detailed reports and graphs, revealing in precise, measurable terms which employees have been doing what on the Internet.
For any organization spending extraordinarily large sums of money each year to provide employee Internet access, this type of information is indispensable.
Especially within organizations sporting high-speed broadband networks (where browsing speed isn't a serious issue), the purpose of using a proxy server is defeated without comprehensive, reliable proxy server statistics.
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