Sun Update Connection Proxy

The Sun Update Connection Proxy was previously called local patch server.

This proxy supports client systems that use the Sun Update Connection System software and the Sun Patch Manager 2.0 software. A Sun Update Connection System client system is not compatible with the older local patch server feature associated with the Sun Patch Manager 2.0 product.

The Sun Update Connection Proxy is an optional feature that you can obtain at no charge if you have a Sun Service Plan. For information about obtaining a Sun Service Plan, go to Solaris Operating System Software Support at http://www.sun.com/service/support/software/solaris/ and select the appropriate level of service.

Starting with the Solaris 8 Operating System, client systems can access updates and update data to perform update analysis and maintenance. This update data is provided by an update source. The update source can be an update server, such as the Sun update server or a Sun Update Connection Proxy (also referred to as a local patch server), or a local collection of updates.

By using a Sun Update Connection Proxy on your intranet, you can serve updates to your local systems and minimize the Internet traffic between your systems and the Sun update server. This type of proxy caches any updates that are downloaded from its update source.

For information about configuring this type of proxy on your intranet, see Configuring Your Sun Update Connection Proxy by Using the Command-Line Interface.

The Sun Update Connection Proxy obtains updates from its source of updates on a per-request basis. You do not need to stock your proxy with updates before you use it.

The system that you choose to act as the Sun Update Connection Proxy must be running at least Solaris 10 and have at least the Developer Solaris Software Group installed. This system must also have the Update Manager software installed.

Benefits of Using a Sun Update Connection Proxy

Using a Sun Update Connection Proxy addresses security concerns as well as system analysis and update download performance issues.

For instance, if your client systems are connected to a Sun Update Connection Proxy and managed locally, the client systems do not need to be connected to the Internet. These client systems also do not need to be registered by the Update Manager software.

As another example, using this type of proxy can improve update-related performance issues. Instead of updates and metadata being downloaded from the Sun update server to each of your systems, the update is downloaded only once to your Sun Update Connection Proxy . After the update data is stored on this server, update data is transferred to your system for analysis over your intranet instead of over the Internet.

You can configure a chain of Sun Update Connection System Proxies on your intranet. The last link in the chain of proxies can point to the Sun update server or to a local collection of updates. By using this chain of proxies, an update download request from your system to its primary Sun Update Connection Proxy can be forwarded to other proxies in the chain in an attempt to fulfill the request. If your system’s primary Sun Update Connection Proxy cannot locate an update, it makes the same request of the next proxy in the chain to see if the update is stored there. If the update is found, it is downloaded to the system. If the update is not found, the request continues along the chain until the update is found or the last proxy in the chain is reached.

For example, your company has a Sun Update Connection Proxy that obtains updates directly from the Sun update server. Each office in your company has its own Sun Update Connection Proxy that obtains updates from the company proxy.

Each Sun Update Connection Proxy in the chain stores the updates found on another proxy in the chain based on the download request. So, an update that is not initially found on your proxy will be downloaded to your Sun Update Connection Proxy and stored before being downloaded to the client system. Each system in a chain of proxies might increase the amount of time it takes to download updates to your client system. So, the first time a client system requests a download, the update is downloaded to the proxy system over the Internet. Subsequent requests for that update are downloaded to the client system from the proxy system over your intranet.