Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Proxy Server
     
         {Microsoft}'s {proxy server} and {proxy
        gateway}, designed to provide extensible {firewall} and network
        security.  Proxy Server is part of {BackOffice}.
     
        (1999-09-17)

proxy server
     
         A process providing a {cache} of
        items available on other {servers} which are presumably slower
        or more expensive to access.
     
        This term is used particularly for a {World-Wide Web} server
        which accepts {URL}s with a special prefix.  When it receives
        a request for such a URL, it strips off the prefix and looks
        for the resulting URL in its local {cache}.  If found, it
        returns the document immediately, otherwise it fetches it from
        the remote server, saves a copy in the cache and returns it to
        the requester.  The cache will usually have an expiry
        {algorithm} which flushes documents according to their age,
        size, and access history.
     
        Compare {proxy gateway}.
     
        (1995-02-14)