[squid-users] Squid as Reverse Proxy for Windows

[Amos Jeffries]

On 19/01/2017 12:50 a.m., Zoltan Flavius wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> 
> 
> I have an API for which we would like to implement a reverse proxy
> caching with squid on Windows Server 2008.As I can see here
> KnowledgeBase/Windows - Squid Web Proxy Wiki there are some known
> limitations and I would like to ask you some questions:
> 
> 
> 1. What do you mean by "Some code sections can make blocking calls".
> Please give me  details on this.

One of them was use of poll() for I/O. Most likely someone familiar with
the Windows APIs reading through the compat/os/windows.* code files
would spot a few more.

Sorry, it has been too long since I last hacked away at the MinGW
project I have forgotten the specific API calls behind that statement.

Given your other questions and stated use, the details are probably not
that important for you anyway. It essentially means native Windows
builds are *slow*, which brings me to your next Q...



> 2.  Also what do you mean by "Some
> external helpers may not work"? Is the Squid for Windows a stable
> solution for reverse proxy caching or do you recommend using UNIX
> based operations system instead?

We do recommend using non-Windows operating systems. But primarily for
performance reasons. Windows is just plain slow, and I dont mean by a
little - its peak request per second capacity (top traffic speed) is an
order of magnitude lower than any other OS.

Diladele B.V. linked from that wiki page are providing stable /
producion suitable binaries built with Cygwin for the latest Squid
releases. I dare say that is the best Windows version you will be able
to find anytime soon.

NP: Squid-3 and later still do not build with Visual Studio or MinGW. So
those builds are very much non-stable.


> Could you give me more details in
> regards to the license, since it is licensed under GNU General Public
> License and I use it as a reverse proxy?

If you just build the source code we provide as-is you can *use* the
resulting binaries in any way you wish.

The GPL requirements start to have effect if you make changes to the
Squid code or copy bits of it for use elsewhere.


> Do I have to give to my end
> users the freedom to run, study, share and modify our software for
> which I use Squid as reverse proxy?

The traffic messages (HTTP etc.) going through Squid to the public are
not affected by the Squid license (and vice versa).


HTH
Amos