Network Performance of Proxy-Enabled Server Using Three Configurations

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to test the mean network performance of the proxy server from the Out-Of-The-Box (OOTB), caching, filtering, and bandwidth allocation configurations when categorized according to the time of access and type of websites. More so, determine significant differences in the network performance of the proxy server with the OOTB and compared it with caching, blocking, and bandwidth allocation configuration when categorized according to the time of access and type of websites. Methods: Experimental design was employed to determine the difference in the network performance of proxy servers using three configurations namely, caching, filtering, and bandwidth allocation as compared to the network performance of proxyserver with the OOTB configuration. These three configurations were made as independent variables that determined the network performance of a proxyenabled server. The researchers used the Squid Proxy version 3.4. The data were obtained by setting up a computer system running Ubuntu Linux version 19.10. Four sets of experiments were conducted to test the performance of the OOTB, caching, filtering and bandwidth allocation configurations simultaneously. The time of access was defined as A.M. session and P.M. session while the type of websites was defined as static webpages and dynamic webpages. The mean and t-Test were the statistical tools used in the study where t-Test was set at 0.05 alpha level. Findings: It was found out that the caching configuration, in both time of access and type of websites, was the most efficient among the three configurations. The proxy-enabled server with blocking configuration was found to have the least performance efficiency for both times of access and types of websites among the three configurations. Novelty : With the results of this study, it is highly recommended to network administrators to employ caching configuration on proxy servers to improve the performance efficiency of computer networks. Keywords: ProxyServer; OutOfTheBox; Caching; Filtering; Bandwidth Allocation