proxy, proxies

[hellrulez]

Ok, i am really confused.

what is exactly a proxy? what is proxy software? <---what they do?, and what is the proxies address that hide your ip on net?

the whole proxy thing is really confusing, can somebody explain me in the plain english. THANKS!!

[2canSAM]

A proxy is software that allows multiple connections to the internet through one device, such a modem, and one ISP account. A good one that I like is Proxy+. It is free for up to three users.

[mourikise]

A proxy server is a computer that runs a service (software) which are called proxy servers too. Setting up a proxy will enabe you to have a single internet connection which you can share it with other PCs on your network.

The good thing using a proxy is that the internet (actually the other PCs on the internet) sees a single IP address; the proxy's one. In this way the PCs of your network are sort of hidden. This adds a level of protection on your network, but still far from firewalling!

Some proxies do the NAT Network Address Resolution) themselves (like SQUID) while some others use proxy clients (MS Proxy). The proxy client makes the masquerading before the proxy server, so that even if you use programs that do not know how to use a proxy (like MS ftp client) can still work.

Also, there are caching only proxies, HTTP proxies, Socks proxies and the whole thing gets complicated enough. So, if you need further detail on something more specific just ask. I'm not going to write a book here

However the whole idea is very simple; as simple as 2canSAM's description. So, nothing to be scared of!

Bye!

[hellrulez]

i do have one question. so far, i been doing programming in my life, i never touched the networking part. Now if i want to learn the entire networking stuff, where do i start?

[mourikise]

Did you learned programming by just reading books? No. By just discussing in forums? Neither! You just made your first program: I bet it was the 'hello world' one!

The same you should do now man if you wanna learn. Just find an old Pentium 166 MMX and make it a server for your network. You don't need enough money, nor a supercomputer. All you need is gaining experience through practice! I suggest you start with NT 4.0 Server unless you have a problem purchasing a lisence, so the alternative would be Linux or Solaris 8 (both are pretty cheap).

Just go ahead and build your own network. Noone can describe how to build a network from scratch! Just start with the installation and every time you meet a specific problem SysOpt is here!

Bye

[koonthul]

Amen to mourikise! I have spent 6 years with computers and have taught myself a lot. Enough to get an IT job even! For learning how to network, which isn't hard, follow the above advice, but you can also research and learn here....
www.homepclan.com

Good luck...

~Koonthul