Delay pools-based uninterrupted and dynamic bandwidth distribution of Squid proxy cache

Abstract

A Squid proxy sever is a popular web content caching service trusted by many network administrators. In this paper, we describe a method of managing the bandwidth of Squid proxy cache through the World Wide Web, thus allowing Squid administrators and authorized users to allocate a percentage of bandwidth to a particular computer or group of computers without disturbing connected clients. This approach is useful for Squid administrators with low bandwidth internet connections in dynamically prioritizing existing bandwidth for bandwidth-hungry applications such as videoconferencing and bulk file downloading and uploading. In controlling bandwidth utilization of users, delay pools is a widely used technique. In a Squid proxy cache, the delay pools setting should be made by editing a configuration manually and restarting the service. The proposed framework allows to grab delay pool parameters through a web interface. Php and C++ programs were used in implementing the system. With the proposed approach, existing bandwidth can be allocated within hosts or subnets dynamically without disturbing existing connections. By analyzing realtime bandwidth distribution graphs, we could conclude that the proposed framework can distribute the bandwidth as required without affecting connected clients.