Additional NetCache features

Features available with your NetCache appliance

NetCache offers a variety of features, which include those shown in the following table. The features are discussed in detail in the Administration Guide the Security Guide, the ICAP Services Guide, and Client Monitoring and Control for Streaming.

Feature	Description
Access controls	A robust and flexible access control system is available, which enables you to create access control rules (ACLs) to allow or deny requests based on a number of variables, such as client IP address. ACLs are associated with specific users, groups of users, and types of requests, such as HTTP.
Filtering for inappropriate requests	NetCache includes two choices of content filter software for restricting, by category, access to Web sites that contain objectionable content. You can use SmartFilter software or WebWasher DynaBLocator software.
Authentication	NetCache provides support for authentication of users and groups through an internal database, LDAP, NTLM, Kerberos, or RADIUS.
Logs	A variety of logs are available for monitoring the activity of your NetCache appliance. Log features include customization of headers to be included in a specific log and the ability to push logs to an FTP server or Web server according to a schedule. Note WebWasher ContentReporter software application fetches NetCache logs and prepares that data for use with third-party reporting applications.
Security	Security features include the following: Through the SecureAdmin^TM software, you can administer NetCache in a nontrusted environment using an encrypted exchange of information between NetCache and a client. You can restrict the locations from which NetCache accepts administrative traffic. Vulnerability of a NetCache appliance to attacks by intruders is lower than with general operating systems, such as Solaris, because a NetCache appliance does not contain any other software on it (for example, Telnet or RSH) that would enable an intruder to access the network.
Cache hierarchies	You can logically define a hierarchy (pyramid) of NetCache appliances and third-party proxy-cache servers to enable an appliance to forward a request it cannot resolve to another hierarchy member for request resolution.
ICAP	A NetCache appliance can interact with one or more ICAP servers to adapt content to local policies. Deploying ICAP services enables you to off-load expensive services, for example, virus checking, content filtering, and advertisement insertion to another machine. See Chapter 8, Content Adaptation Services, for more information.
Bandwidth allocation	You can create rules that allocate various-size bandwidth "pipes" on your NetCache appliance and assign specific categories of connections to use these bandwidth pipes. Doing so enables you to restrict the share of your NetCache appliance's total bandwidth capacity that can be used by any one category of connections.
e-Commerce	NetCache e-Commerce technologies are based on a set of protocols on the appliance that enable the appliance to work in conjunction with application servers to monitor user streaming activity. Application server developers program their servers to use the NetCache APIs, which enables the servers to communicate with the appliance. Configuration on the appliance enables the appliance to communicate with application servers. See Client Monitoring and Control for Streaming for more information.