[Gllug] Proxy awareness campaign

[Alex Hudson]

Can I just make the case for the defence?

I know proxies don't get a good rap, and I know geeks would prefer to not 
have them. But, in my view, it is essential to have them, is becoming more 
essential as the internet grows, and I think to demand they be removed 
completely is somewhat neo-luddite.

Firstly, the problem: connections / bandwidth is expensive. Security is 
expensive. Load balancing/clustering is expensive. Proxying gives easy 
answers to these in many situations. Advanced proxying / edge content 
production / level 7 firewalls are all examples of cool uses of proxy 
technology: nobody's going to tell me the Akamai network is rubbish. I think 
the case for good proxies is watertight.

I do agree, though, that there are too many poorly setup proxies in 
existence. The inability to use HTTP/1.1, or fall back to 1.0 correctly, is 
inexcusable, proxies which drop connections, or break otherwise, are also 
annoying. I think any campaign should be aimed at these: proxies which don't 
work. 

To argue that all transparent proxies are bad, for example, is not going to 
cut it with network engineers. To argue that there is not enough awareness of 
good proxying practice is a different matter, and one I would support.

Cheers,
				Alex.

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