CacheGuard OS

CacheGuard Appliances run under an embedded Operating System called "CacheGuard OS". It's a Powerfull and Secure Linux based OS dedicated to the Web access Function.

"CacheGuard OS" offers the following advantages:

• HTTP/HTTPS/FTP forwarding Proxy
• HTTP/HTTPS reverse Proxy
• HTTP requests Content Filtering (XSS, SQL Injection...)
• HTTP requests Auditing
• Virtual Hosting and Load Balancing
• SSL Terminator
• HTTP Compression Methods
• Caching Technologies
• HTTP Transparent Implementation
• URL Guarding with Balck & White lists
• Integrated Firewall with NAT & PAT
• Bandwidth Shaping & Scheduling (QoS)
• Web Access logger
• Light-Weight Administration with a CLI
• Web GUI Administration Interface (HTTPS)
• SSH Configuration Interface
• Prgrammable with SSH and a Task Scheduler
• Load Sharing System
• Access List & Security Management
• Self Domain Name Server Service
• Integrated DHCP Server
• NTP (Network Time Protocole) compatible
• High availability with VRRP and link bonding

"CacheGuard OS" is the result of a mere aggregation of multiple free Softwares and unrelated non-free but Open Source programs. The free part is mainly distributed under the GNU GPL. The non-free part of CacheGuard OS in distributed under the CacheGuard License.

In accordance with international treaties and conventions about intellectual property rights the non-free part of CacheGuard is protected. See the IDDN Certification for more details.

Hardware Requirement

The hardware requirement depends mainly on the Users number and Guard Records Capacities: Users Capacity is the Total number of users (20% of theses users are considered to be simultaneous users) . Guard Records Capacity is the maximum number of URL or Domain names managed by the system for Guard lists (Black lists or White lists).

For 250 users (50 simultaneous users), a typical hardware configuration is:

• Intel Pentium IV
• PCI bus
• 1024 MB RAM
• 80 GB HD (2 x 40 GB is preferable)
• 2 x Ethernet 100 Mbps NIC

For more users, prefer a server with more RAM and HD Storage Capacity. Normally add 1024 MB of RAM and 80 GB of HD Storage Capacity for every 250 additional users. For instance an appliance tunned for 750 users (3 x 250) requires 3072 MB (3 x 1024) of RAM and 240 GB (3 x 80 GB) of HD Storage Capacity.

A CacheGuard Appliance runs better with several low storage capacity HD compared to a single high storage capacity HD (prefer a server with 6 x 40 GB HD compared to a server with a single 240 GB HD).

If you're interested by the HTTP Compression think about doubling the RAM size and using a Multi Processor system. You can also use our Compression Card for the HTTP compression feature.

CacheGuard OS requires at least 2 Ethernet NIC. To use the link bonding feature, add one or two additional Ethernet NIC.

Minimum Hardware Requirement

The minimum Hardware configuration is as follows:

• x86 Architecture
• PCI bus
• 128 MB RAM
• 1 GB HD ^(*)
• 2 x Ethernet NIC

^(*)OS main components are installed on a single Hard Drive called the OS Hard Drive. By default this is the first HD detected during the installation. The minimum capacity required for the OS HD is about one GB. Usually an additional free space is required for the persistent cache (if the caching feature is to be activated). Therefore, a preferable total HD capacity is 2 GB.