Optimizing Proxy Server Performance In order to optimize server performance for whatsoever reason, you need to start by monitoring the server. In most cases, before server monitoring commences, it is common practice to establish baseline performance metrics for the specific server. Baseline performance metrics are established by measuring the performance of a particular server under various conditions, at different times of the day, week, and month, and when the hardware and software configuration changes. Based on the baseline metrics which you define for the server, you would need to optimize Read More

Configuring Web Browser Properties To configure Web browser properties, access the Web Browser Properties dialog box in the Client Configuration node of the ISA Server management console. The different settings that you can configure on the Web Browser Properties dialog box are explained here. On the General tab, you can configure the following settings: Configure Web Browser During Firewall Client Setup checkbox; select this option if you want the Firewall client software to configure the Web browser of the client. If not, clear the checkbox for the setting. DNS Name Read More

Proxy Server Arrays Overview Proxy Server provides a feature called proxy arrays. A proxy array is a solution whereby one or multiple proxy servers operate as a single cache for client requests. Each Proxy Server server that belongs to the proxy array performs the following functions: Maintains membership information for the proxy array. This information provides input on which array members are available and which array members are unavailable. A client therefore has to only query one array member because each member of the proxy array maintains information on all Read More

Understanding the ISA Server H.323 Gatekeeper You can configure the ISA Server H.323 Gatekeeper to control the following elements over the network or Internet: Data conferencing Video Audio H.323 is a standard that specifies how this information is formatted and transmitted over networks. The H.323 standard contains a number of protocols developed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) that define how multimedia equipment, and computers and services should operate over the private network or Internet. The H.323 standard contains the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards listed here, as well Read More

Why Upgrade to ISA Server A few reasons for migrating from Proxy Server 2.0 to ISA Server are listed here: You need a H.323 Filter Gatekeeper. You need a multi-layered firewall. You need a firewall client. You need to perform SSL traffic inspection. You want to perform email-content screening. Stateful inspection has become important. You need secure publishing. You want to use smart application filters. You require advanced authentication. You want SecureNAT. You need to use system hardening templates. You want integrated Intrusion Detection. You want to use integrated VPNs Read More

Proxy Server Overview Proxy Server enables you to connect the private network or LAN to a public network such as the Internet, by acting as a gateway for internal client computers to the Internet. Proxy Server is a secure gateway which you can use to provide Internet connectivity for IP and IPX based networks. A gateway is a computer that makes it possible for two networks to communicate. Proxy Server services should run on one computer to which both the private network and the public network is connected to. The Read More

Tools for Troubleshooting ISA Server There are a variety of tools that you can use to troubleshoot ISA Server. The type of issue would determine which of the tools(s) listed here you need to use: ISA Server Reports tool: You can use the reporting feature included with ISA Server to obtain and view information on usage statistics of the server for computers and client users, to create your own reports to log specific data, and to isolate the cause of a performance problem. ISA Server includes a number of predefined Read More

Access Policies Overview Protocol rules and site and content rules determine access policy in ISA Server: Protocol rules define which protocols clients can use to access the Internet. Site and content rules define which sites and content can be accessed. Because no protocol rules are defined and applied when you install ISA Server, traffic will not be able to pass through. Packet filters are used to manage the flow of IP packets to ISA Server and from ISA Server. Packet filtering inspects the header of each packet for protocol, port, Read More

Bandwidth Usage in ISA Server Network performance can depreciate because of a number of issues. With ISA Server, you can use bandwidth priorities and bandwidth rules to set propriety levels for traffic. Effective bandwidth is the terminology used to describe the data transfer rate available to clients through dial-up connections or dedicated Internet connections. Bandwidth rules make it possible for you to set the priority for requests. Bandwidth rules are configured by specifying a number of policy elements: Protocol definitions IP addresses and users Destination sets Schedule Content types Bandwidth Read More

Managing and Configuring ISA Server Arrays The ISA Server Enterprise Edition provides integration with the Active Directory and additional benefits and features such as centralized server management, multiple levels of access policy, server clustering through arrays, fault-tolerant, and the increased efficiencies of hierarchical and distributed caching. The ISA Server Enterprise Edition uses Cache Array Routing Protocol (CARP) to provide scaling and improve efficiency. When you install multiple ISA Server computers, ISA Servers are automatically installed in arrays. The array of ISA Servers is then treated as a single logical cache. Read More