Briefly, the questions I need quick answers to are:
Can Apache be configured to directly proxy a request for content on a remote server to the machine routing requests to the Internet (the ?connection? to the Internet) after looking for, and not finding, static content on the hard drive?.
Another question would be can another Apache instance on another port be chained with the original server to proxy the requests to the routing machine (if so, how).
First some background, see below for my detailed questions. ------>
Our project has setup a small server that uses Apache to serve web sites we collect (with permission)in schools without Internet access. The server sits on their network and serves up the content over their LAN. In some situations, we would like to have the server behave more like a proxy server for schools that have limited Internet access. If the content is not found in the collection of web sites, then they would be passed on to their schools internet connection and if their school uses a proxy on their network with caching, then that would be hit first and then the connection out.
Currently, using the rewrite module, Apache tries to fulfill the request from the directories on the appliance?s hard drive. If the content is not there (if the request is for content on a remote host), Apache responds with a custom error page. This essentially satisfies our goal of having the appliance act as a ?stand-alone? server in situations where the organization implementing the eAppliance does not have a ?connection? to the Internet.
Widernet needs the eAppliance to be flexible and to be able to work in an organization that has a ?connection? to the Internet. The appliance has to either configure itself and/or have a one time configuration done by programmers at the eGranary base (University of Iowa).
One solution is that Apache can be configured to directly proxy the request for content on a remote server to the machine routing requests to the Internet (the ?connection? to the Internet). Another solution would be to have another Apache server on another port proxy the requests to the routing machine. So, the answers we need to know quickly are
whether Apache can be configured this way (if so, how) or if two or more Apache instances can be chained to perform the same functionality.
Widernet programmers, University of Iowa
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