Why is WebDoubler faster than other proxies?

WebDoubler's Significant Performance Advantage

In typical classroom, computer lab, or office use, WebDoubler delivers Web pages substantially faster than any other proxy - even Web pages that have not been cached yet. WebDoubler is unique in its ability to deliver new Web pages and graphics to multiple users simultaneously. This unique ability results in a tremendous speed-up for Web browsing, especially in classroom and computer-lab settings. In addition, WebDoubler's large disk and RAM based caches deliver frequently-accessed Web sites at extremely high speed, while also ensuring that all the Web pages are completely fresh and up-to-date.

How Conventional Proxies Handle Simultaneous Requests

There are two kinds of Web proxies: caching and non-caching. With a non-caching proxy, every user is forced to download their pages from the Internet, even if their neighbor has just downloaded the same page. If several people try to access the same Web page at roughly the same time through a non-caching proxy, each user downloads their own copy, and everyone slows down. Here's a simple diagram of how a non-caching proxy handles three overlapping requests for one Web page.

Note that the download times for the second and third copy of the page are slower, because there are two users competing for use of the Internet connection. The overall time for all three users to download the page is fairly long, even though the first user got the whole page at a normal speed. With a non-caching proxy, the more users there are trying to access the page, the more slowly it will appear. If three users each look at the same page, the page is downloaded from the Internet three times.

Some proxies are caching proxies. Caching proxies keep copies of the Web pages and graphics that have been accessed. Later, the cached graphics and Web pages can retrieved quickly from the proxy without another download. However, conventional caching proxies will not consider a Web page fully cached until the whole page has been received by the first user. And that means that when several users try to access the same page, most caching proxies don't actually provide any speed benefit at all; they act just like non-caching proxies and force each user to download the same page - slowly.

WebDoubler's Significant Speed Advantage

WebDoubler is a caching proxy. But unlike conventional caching proxies, WebDoubler can cache and accelerate Web pages even as they're being downloaded and viewed for the first time. This means that WebDoubler can serve the same Web page to multiple users simultaneously with no slowdown. In fact, with more simultaneous users, WebDoubler actually speeds up! Here's a diagram of how WebDoubler serves the same Web page to three almost-simultaneous users:

1. When the first user clicks the new page, WebDoubler starts downloading and delivering it.("first response")
    
2. When the second user clicks the page, WebDoubler starts serving the second user a simultaneous copy of the page that it is sending to the first user. ("simultaneous response")
    
3. When the third user clicks the page, WebDoubler immedately sends the third user all of the data that is has downloaded so far for the other users, at extremely hight speed. ("accelerated response") As the third user catches up with the first two, WebDoubler delivers the remainder of the page to all three users in total synchronization.

All three users get the page at the same time, and WebDoubler delivers the pages significantly faster than a conventional caching (or non-caching) proxy. Note that the third user actually got the page faster they would have going directly to the Internet. In addition to delivering the Web pages faster, WebDoubler's simultaneous caching system can dramatically reduce your Internet bandwidth usage. Of course, WebDoubler is smart enough to process pages independantly for personalized pages that will be different when viewed by different people.

Speed For The Classroom And Office

WebDoubler's performance advantage translates directly into significantly faster Web access in classrooms and computer labs, where many users can access the same Web site at the same time. With twenty users, WebDoubler can return Web pages up to twenty times as fast as conventional (or non-caching) proxies. Only WebDoubler offers this advanced simultaneous caching system.

In office settings, where news and information sites are checked frequently, WebDoubler significantly accelerates access to common Web sites. WebDoubler is programmed to cache only the unchanging portions of the page, such as graphics and navigation bars. WebDoubler does not cache stale news or deliver old pages.

Conclusion

WebDoubler significantly outperforms both conventional and non-caching proxies in classrooms, computer labs and office environments. WebDoubler's simultaneous caching system delivers Web pages extremely fast to many users at once. WebDoubler's intelligent disk cache keeps frequently-accessed sites extremely fast and up-to-date. Together, these two systems make WebDoubler the fastest, most efficient Web proxy available for classrooms, computer labs, and offices.