Proxy Server

This is a server that all computers on the local network have to go through before accessing information on the Internet. 

By using a proxy server, an organization can improve the network performance and filter what users connected to the network can access.

While your Web browser might save recently viewed items on your computer, a proxy server stores in cache everything accessed from the network. 

That means if Arun views a news story at cnn.com at 12:00 and Anitha views the same page at 12:03, she'll most likely get the page straight from the proxy server's cache. Though this means super-fast access to Web pages, it also means users might not be seeing the latest update of each Web page.

The other main purpose a proxy server is to filter what is allowed into the network. While HTTP, FTP, and Secure protocols can all be filtered by a proxy server, HTTP is the most common. 

The proxy server can limit what Web sites users on the network can access. 

Many organizations choose to block access to sites with objectionable material such as hacking information and pornography, but other sites can be filtered as well.

 If an employer notices workers are spending too much time at sites like facebook.com,twitter, those sites can be blocked by the proxy server as well.