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I currently have a small business where many of the computers download the same fies over and over again (for example Windows Updates). What I'd like to do is setup a cache server, something that'll be inbetween my modem and Airport extreme, so that if something like a windows update has been downloaded once, if it's requested again it'll download it from the cache server instead of the internet.

I've been a Ubuntu user for quite some time but I'm a little stuck on how and where to start this. Any help is appreciated! Thank you!

EDIT:

After realizing I missed something in my question. Hardware-wise will a switch box be usable or something along those lines to pass the connection through the server first before the router? Or will I require a specific network card with an out capability as well?

Dustin
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2 Answers2

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See Squid

Alex Howansky
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  • Ah Squid I think I've heard of quite awhile ago but just couldn't find the exact name. Thank you! I've updated my question though as I've forgotten one thing. – Dustin Aug 29 '11 at 22:29
  • You can do it with a standard single-NIC machine, nothing fancy required. Just set all your internal clients to use the Squid machine's IP as a proxy, and then configure your router/firewall to block outbound web traffic that doesn't come from the proxy machine. (This forces your users to use the proxy.) – Alex Howansky Aug 29 '11 at 22:45
  • Brilliant I think this should do! I'm going to give it a shot tomorrow, thanks a lot for the help! – Dustin Aug 30 '11 at 00:03
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Squid is a good choice, dont forget to adjust the file caching size.

For Windows updates, WSUS should be your friend, you can configure WSUS for almost all MS products he will download the Updates and you can approve it or not for installation. The windows clients can be easily configured to use WSUS trought a GPO, the big benefit is, updates are only downloaded once, regardless how many clients you have. Of course you need a Windows Server for WSUS.

Izac
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  • WSUS will definitely be perfect for this! I think I shall actually implement it temporarly until I get the cache server setup. Windows Updates was just an example for the question, there will be much more then those passing through the cache. Thanks a lot for your help! – Dustin Aug 29 '11 at 22:30