RE: Proxy naming

I think the major difference between these two kinds of proxies is that 
one is transparent, and the other isn't.  For example, what you call a 
"server proxy" looks like a server to the client, and like a client to 
the server.  Hence I find the proposed names confusing.

The ability to transparently interpose agents is an important design 
criterion for a protocol... in the current versions of HTTP, it can not 
be done in general.

One small step in this direction would be to allow full URLs in 
requests to origin servers in HTTP 1.1. (In HTTP 1.0 and the current 
HTTP 1.1 draft, they are only allowed in requests to proxies.)  (The 
use of Host: may already meet this requirement... if so, maybe this 
suggested change might end up in deprecated usage.)

Paul
----------
] From: Ari Luotonen  <luotonen@netscape.com>
] To: http-wg mailing list  <netmail!http-wg%cuckoo.hpl.hp.com@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
] Subject: Proxy naming
] Date: Monday, October 02, 1995 6:51PM
]
]
] I had an off-line discussion with Shel, and came up with a naming
] scheme that would reduce confusion about conventional proxies, and
] proxies that act as servers ("reverse proxies", as I called them):
] client proxy and server proxy, respectively.
]
] Since the conventional proxies are for clients to get through their
] firewall (or just get faster response times and save bandwidth), they
] are "client side" proxies.  The clients know that they are talking to
] a proxy, and the protocol is slightly different for the communication
] between a client and a client proxy (as specified in the HTTP draft).
]
] A "server proxy" is more of a proxy to a server -- to clients it
] appears as a normal server.  Also, the protocol between a client and a
] server proxy is stock HTTP, just like for any communication between a
] client and a server.  The fact that the server is actually a server
] proxy is hidden from the client.
]
] Roy, would you consider putting these definitions into the spec, and
] making a difference between them, when applicable?
]
] Cheers,
] --
] Ari Luotonen				ari@netscape.com
] Netscape Communications Corp.		http://home.netscape.com/people/ari/
] 501 East Middlefield Road
] Mountain View, CA 94043, USA		Netscape Server Development Team
]

Received on Tuesday, 3 October 1995 15:32:56 UTC