Benefits of using Squid proxy in modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)











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With all the file caching already done in browsers, I was wondering if there is any benefit to configuring your Browser to use a local (LAN or on same machine) Squid proxy.



Looking at the console output in Chrome, most of the files are already taken from the browser cache.



Is there any use case for using Squid proxy in browsers?










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    up vote
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    down vote

    favorite
    1












    With all the file caching already done in browsers, I was wondering if there is any benefit to configuring your Browser to use a local (LAN or on same machine) Squid proxy.



    Looking at the console output in Chrome, most of the files are already taken from the browser cache.



    Is there any use case for using Squid proxy in browsers?










    share|improve this question
























      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite
      1









      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite
      1






      1





      With all the file caching already done in browsers, I was wondering if there is any benefit to configuring your Browser to use a local (LAN or on same machine) Squid proxy.



      Looking at the console output in Chrome, most of the files are already taken from the browser cache.



      Is there any use case for using Squid proxy in browsers?










      share|improve this question













      With all the file caching already done in browsers, I was wondering if there is any benefit to configuring your Browser to use a local (LAN or on same machine) Squid proxy.



      Looking at the console output in Chrome, most of the files are already taken from the browser cache.



      Is there any use case for using Squid proxy in browsers?







      browser proxy browser-cache squid






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











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      share|improve this question










      asked Nov 16 at 17:17









      frhd

      1084




      1084






















          1 Answer
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          up vote
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          Squid dates back from when a company or enterprise, with a 1.5Mbps T1 connection (or less) to the Internet, would run a proxy server for many users on a network. This had the following benefits:




          • This would prevent duplicate requests for resources going out over relatively slow WAN link (compared to 10/100/1000 LAN speeds).

          • Since all Internet-facing HTTP requests have to go through Squid, logging and filtering was easy to do.

          • IIRC Squid has authentication support so only allowing certain users to have Internet access is possible, as well as tracking accesses per user.


          Squid benefits the best when you have multiple users/systems on a network that will pull from its cache. Browsers had some level of caching for a long time.



          The benefit might be less these days because




          • WAN speeds are much higher than they were in T1 days


          • Most websites serve dynamic content.


          • Websites that are heavy on AJAX/XHR/Websockets for interactivity - very common now - don't generate a lot of cacheable traffic.


          • Many media-heavy sites would consume a lot of cache space and try to avoid caching due to copyright concerns.


          • HTTPS is not cacheable without a MITM setup which requires deployment of certificates to each browser wanting to use the proxy.



          For a single user, Squid is overkill unless you want its logging facilities or want to purposefully not provide a system with direct Internet access but still let it get to the web in some way.






          share|improve this answer





















          • This is really brilliant information, thank you! I was wondering about the HTTPS part: These days it's obligatory in certain EU countries like Germany to provide HTTPS in business contexts (even simple websites), so this one really brings in doubt the usefulness of a web cache for the average use-case.
            – frhd
            Nov 17 at 22:03













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          1 Answer
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          1 Answer
          1






          active

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          active

          oldest

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          up vote
          3
          down vote



          accepted










          Squid dates back from when a company or enterprise, with a 1.5Mbps T1 connection (or less) to the Internet, would run a proxy server for many users on a network. This had the following benefits:




          • This would prevent duplicate requests for resources going out over relatively slow WAN link (compared to 10/100/1000 LAN speeds).

          • Since all Internet-facing HTTP requests have to go through Squid, logging and filtering was easy to do.

          • IIRC Squid has authentication support so only allowing certain users to have Internet access is possible, as well as tracking accesses per user.


          Squid benefits the best when you have multiple users/systems on a network that will pull from its cache. Browsers had some level of caching for a long time.



          The benefit might be less these days because




          • WAN speeds are much higher than they were in T1 days


          • Most websites serve dynamic content.


          • Websites that are heavy on AJAX/XHR/Websockets for interactivity - very common now - don't generate a lot of cacheable traffic.


          • Many media-heavy sites would consume a lot of cache space and try to avoid caching due to copyright concerns.


          • HTTPS is not cacheable without a MITM setup which requires deployment of certificates to each browser wanting to use the proxy.



          For a single user, Squid is overkill unless you want its logging facilities or want to purposefully not provide a system with direct Internet access but still let it get to the web in some way.






          share|improve this answer





















          • This is really brilliant information, thank you! I was wondering about the HTTPS part: These days it's obligatory in certain EU countries like Germany to provide HTTPS in business contexts (even simple websites), so this one really brings in doubt the usefulness of a web cache for the average use-case.
            – frhd
            Nov 17 at 22:03

















          up vote
          3
          down vote



          accepted










          Squid dates back from when a company or enterprise, with a 1.5Mbps T1 connection (or less) to the Internet, would run a proxy server for many users on a network. This had the following benefits:




          • This would prevent duplicate requests for resources going out over relatively slow WAN link (compared to 10/100/1000 LAN speeds).

          • Since all Internet-facing HTTP requests have to go through Squid, logging and filtering was easy to do.

          • IIRC Squid has authentication support so only allowing certain users to have Internet access is possible, as well as tracking accesses per user.


          Squid benefits the best when you have multiple users/systems on a network that will pull from its cache. Browsers had some level of caching for a long time.



          The benefit might be less these days because




          • WAN speeds are much higher than they were in T1 days


          • Most websites serve dynamic content.


          • Websites that are heavy on AJAX/XHR/Websockets for interactivity - very common now - don't generate a lot of cacheable traffic.


          • Many media-heavy sites would consume a lot of cache space and try to avoid caching due to copyright concerns.


          • HTTPS is not cacheable without a MITM setup which requires deployment of certificates to each browser wanting to use the proxy.



          For a single user, Squid is overkill unless you want its logging facilities or want to purposefully not provide a system with direct Internet access but still let it get to the web in some way.






          share|improve this answer





















          • This is really brilliant information, thank you! I was wondering about the HTTPS part: These days it's obligatory in certain EU countries like Germany to provide HTTPS in business contexts (even simple websites), so this one really brings in doubt the usefulness of a web cache for the average use-case.
            – frhd
            Nov 17 at 22:03















          up vote
          3
          down vote



          accepted







          up vote
          3
          down vote



          accepted






          Squid dates back from when a company or enterprise, with a 1.5Mbps T1 connection (or less) to the Internet, would run a proxy server for many users on a network. This had the following benefits:




          • This would prevent duplicate requests for resources going out over relatively slow WAN link (compared to 10/100/1000 LAN speeds).

          • Since all Internet-facing HTTP requests have to go through Squid, logging and filtering was easy to do.

          • IIRC Squid has authentication support so only allowing certain users to have Internet access is possible, as well as tracking accesses per user.


          Squid benefits the best when you have multiple users/systems on a network that will pull from its cache. Browsers had some level of caching for a long time.



          The benefit might be less these days because




          • WAN speeds are much higher than they were in T1 days


          • Most websites serve dynamic content.


          • Websites that are heavy on AJAX/XHR/Websockets for interactivity - very common now - don't generate a lot of cacheable traffic.


          • Many media-heavy sites would consume a lot of cache space and try to avoid caching due to copyright concerns.


          • HTTPS is not cacheable without a MITM setup which requires deployment of certificates to each browser wanting to use the proxy.



          For a single user, Squid is overkill unless you want its logging facilities or want to purposefully not provide a system with direct Internet access but still let it get to the web in some way.






          share|improve this answer












          Squid dates back from when a company or enterprise, with a 1.5Mbps T1 connection (or less) to the Internet, would run a proxy server for many users on a network. This had the following benefits:




          • This would prevent duplicate requests for resources going out over relatively slow WAN link (compared to 10/100/1000 LAN speeds).

          • Since all Internet-facing HTTP requests have to go through Squid, logging and filtering was easy to do.

          • IIRC Squid has authentication support so only allowing certain users to have Internet access is possible, as well as tracking accesses per user.


          Squid benefits the best when you have multiple users/systems on a network that will pull from its cache. Browsers had some level of caching for a long time.



          The benefit might be less these days because




          • WAN speeds are much higher than they were in T1 days


          • Most websites serve dynamic content.


          • Websites that are heavy on AJAX/XHR/Websockets for interactivity - very common now - don't generate a lot of cacheable traffic.


          • Many media-heavy sites would consume a lot of cache space and try to avoid caching due to copyright concerns.


          • HTTPS is not cacheable without a MITM setup which requires deployment of certificates to each browser wanting to use the proxy.



          For a single user, Squid is overkill unless you want its logging facilities or want to purposefully not provide a system with direct Internet access but still let it get to the web in some way.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered Nov 16 at 17:36









          LawrenceC

          58.4k10100178




          58.4k10100178












          • This is really brilliant information, thank you! I was wondering about the HTTPS part: These days it's obligatory in certain EU countries like Germany to provide HTTPS in business contexts (even simple websites), so this one really brings in doubt the usefulness of a web cache for the average use-case.
            – frhd
            Nov 17 at 22:03




















          • This is really brilliant information, thank you! I was wondering about the HTTPS part: These days it's obligatory in certain EU countries like Germany to provide HTTPS in business contexts (even simple websites), so this one really brings in doubt the usefulness of a web cache for the average use-case.
            – frhd
            Nov 17 at 22:03


















          This is really brilliant information, thank you! I was wondering about the HTTPS part: These days it's obligatory in certain EU countries like Germany to provide HTTPS in business contexts (even simple websites), so this one really brings in doubt the usefulness of a web cache for the average use-case.
          – frhd
          Nov 17 at 22:03






          This is really brilliant information, thank you! I was wondering about the HTTPS part: These days it's obligatory in certain EU countries like Germany to provide HTTPS in business contexts (even simple websites), so this one really brings in doubt the usefulness of a web cache for the average use-case.
          – frhd
          Nov 17 at 22:03




















           

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