What is a proxy server?
A proxy server is a kind of buffer between your computer and the Internet resource(s) you are accessing. The data you request come to the proxy first, and only then it transmits the data to you. A proxy server receives a request for an Internet service (such as a web page request) from a user. If the proxy server is also a cache server, it can use its local cache of previously downloaded web pages to provide the page without forwarding the request to the Internet. If the page is not in the cache, the proxy server uses one of its own IP addresses to request the page from the server on the Internet. When the page is returned, the proxy server relates it to the original request and forwards it to the user.
A proxy server is a process through which the retrieval of requested World Wide Web URLs is expedited. A local cache stores certain URLs. If the requested URL is found in the cache, it is returned immediately. Otherwise, the URL is retrieved from the remote server, a copy is saved in the cache, and the URL is returned to the requester.
