ISPPlanet Cache Review Series - NetApp NetCache C720

News Caching
The NetCache can also act as a news proxy. News clients like Outlook Express, Free Agent, or Netscape request articles from the NetCache, either directly or via transparent redirection. The NetCache vends previously-stored content or uses NNTP to fetch missing data from a NetNews server. The NetCache is not a news server; it does not receive news feeds. Rather, it reduces bandwidth consumption by allowing local clients to share cached articles. Like web caches, news caches can be deployed in hierarchies for load distribution and use transparent redirection for greater resiliency.

To configure news caching, enter the optional license, then use the NNTP Settings page (right) to configure a listening port, point the NetCache to a NetNews server, define a CONNECT banner, allow or deny posting, and set timeouts. We tested this feature by pointing our Netscape client to the NetCache: an explicit proxy config.For additional resiliency, redirect port 119 to the NetCache and enable NNTP Transparency in the cache.

NNTP client access can be logged or traced using the Log File Settings page. Overall bandwidth savings attributed to news caching appear on the Monitor home page. To get a better feel for efficiency, use the NNTP Group Administration page (left) to query hit rate, article count, and age for specified newsgroups, identified by regular expression (for example, phl.*).