Enabling Forward Proxy Support

ProxyRequests on <Proxy *> Order deny,allow Deny from all Allow from 10.0.0.0/255.255.255.0 </Proxy>

Forward proxies were popular in the early days of the Internet, as they allowed several machines to easily share a connection to the outside world. Most proxy servers also include caching features, which proves useful when sharing slow connections, as well as offering isolation from the outside world. Fast connections and built-in NAT (Network Address Translation) in most gateway devices have significantly reduced the need for forward proxies. Nowadays, they are most commonly implemented when organizations need to control their employee's browsing, using the proxy to log, filter, and authorize access to websites. This is starting to change, and as spyware and viruses become more common, organizations are implementing filtering proxies that remove these threats before they arrive to the user's desktop. Proxies have thus found new life in the wireless network world as gateways.

You can enable forward proxy functionality using ProxyRequests On, as shown in the example. It is a good idea to restrict proxy support to only authorized clients, for the reasons explained in Chapter 6, "Security and Access Control." You can do so using the <Proxy> container directive. The example shows how to restrict proxy access to a specific network space.