Pointing Web browsers to a single NetCache appliance

Applicable NetCache mode

This method for nontransparently directing client requests to NetCache appliances is applicable to NetCache running in the following modes:

Web cache
For Web caches, pointing browsers directly to a NetCache appliance is usually the least desirable of the nontransparent proxying methods for client access to the NetCache appliance. Using an automatic proxy configuration file is typically a better solution. (See Pointing Web browsers to an automatic proxy configuration file.)
News cache (NNTP)
For news caches, this is the only nontransparent method available for directing client requests to NetCache appliances.

When to use this method

In general, using an automatic proxy configuration file for access to Web caches is a better solution. However, this method is advantageous if your organization already has a single NetCache appliance. The reason is that you can avoid having to reconfigure client Web browsers if you add a switch or Server Load Balancer (SLB) and assign it the IP address that the browser expects, that is, the IP address for the NetCache appliance. Then configure the switch or SLB to be aware of the NetCache appliance as required by that switch or SLB.

Disadvantages of this method

The disadvantages of pointing browsers to a NetCache appliance are as follows:

Client browsers must be individually configured and can point only to a single NetCache appliance.
If you need to swap out the NetCache appliance, all client browsers must be reconfigured to point to the new appliance, unless you assign the same IP address to the new appliance.
If the NetCache appliance goes down, clients cannot access the Internet. No method for failover exists, unlike transparent proxying or an automatic proxy configuration file.
A client's request can be sent only to the specified NetCache appliance. Therefore, load balancing is not possible.
Sophisticated users can bypass the NetCache appliance by changing the configuration in the browser.

If you want a failover method

If you have multiple NetCache appliances and you to set up a method for failover to another cache, see Section B, Failover by using NetCache appliance takeover pairs.

If you want to distribute requests over multiple NetCache appliances

If you have multiple NetCache appliances over which you want requests distributed, you must use DNS round robin or a Server Load Balancer. See Using DNS round robin for request distribution and Using a Server Load Balancer for request distribution.