LISTSERV mailing list manager LISTSERV 16.5

Help for CODE4LIB Archives


CODE4LIB Archives

CODE4LIB Archives


CODE4LIB@LISTS.CLIR.ORG


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Proportional Font

LISTSERV Archives

LISTSERV Archives

CODE4LIB Home

CODE4LIB Home

CODE4LIB  February 2014

CODE4LIB February 2014

Subject:

Re: EZProxy changes / alternatives ?

From:

"Salazar, Christina" <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Mon, 3 Feb 2014 19:03:11 +0000

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (60 lines)

I realize that the EZProxy list is the vendor's list but to some extent, I think some of this conversation needs to happen there too. Perhaps there's others there who can support an initiative to develop some sort of an alternative.

However, many libraries on that list though will be in the same boat as me/my library, I suspect: I may or may not have the technical expertise to monkey with other options, but I definitely don't have the time. It would be hard to justify to my boss that I'm spending time on a proxy alternative when we already have EZProxy.

When I'd asked EZProxy list about alternatives I heard about this: HANServer: http://www.hh-han.com/en/default.cfm I haven't done a thorough analysis of functionality because I got nervous about getting English language support from a German company, though I see now that they're partnering with LM Information Delivery (I don't know who THEY are either...)

I really do think that the library community needs to do something and this whole thread has served to reinforce that - $500 per year or no.

-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Scott Prater
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2014 9:06 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] EZProxy changes / alternatives ?

I'd add to the list that EZProxy integration with Shibboleth is fairly minimal;  for example, it doesn't support chaining attribute authorities, which is an issue for us.  We opened a ticket several years requesting that feature, but realistically, I doubt it will ever get added.

If EZProxy were open source, and if  I could make changes to it and push them back up to codebase, I'd be a lot happier with it.  Given the market share it already has, I would think that releasing the source code would be a good marketing decision:  the pool of interested developers who could implement new features, and help debug problems, would increase dramatically, and also contribute to making the software more secure.  Perhaps with OCLC's new EZProxy hosted service, there would be less of a financial incentive to keep the source closed, and more of a product development incentive to open it up?

-- Scott

On 02/03/2014 10:09 AM, Andrew Anderson wrote:
> For me it's a little more concrete, and a little less abstract when it comes to why a viable alternative to EZproxy is necessary.  It has very little to do with the cost of EZproxy itself, and much more to do with support, features, and functionality.
>
> There exists a trivial DoS attack against EZproxy that I reported to OCLC about 2 years ago, and has not been addressed yet.
>
> Native IPv6 support by EZproxy has slipped by years now.  I have patrons using IPv6 for access today that I want to provide a better experience than forcing them to use a 6to4 gateway at their ISP.
>
> You cannot proxy https to http with EZproxy to secure the patron to proxy side of the proxy communication, increasing your patron's privacy.
>
> I have requested that OCLC make a minor change to their existing AD authentication support to enable generic LDAP/Kerberos authentication that was denied because "no one wants it".  Since they support AD, 95% of the code required already exists, and would make a lot more sense than some of the other authentication schemes that EZproxy already supports.  This closes the door on integration with eDirectory, IPA, SUN Directory Server, OpenLDAP, etc. for no good reason.
>
> OCLC has been the steward of EZproxy for over 5 years now, and in that time, they are yet to fully document the software.  Every few months some new obscure configuration option gets discussed on the EZproxy list that I've never seen before, and I have been working with this software for over a decade now.  This is not only limited to existing configuration options, either - there was no documentation on the new MimeFilter option when it was first introduced.  I would have expected that the IT staff at OCLC that is managing the EZproxy service would have demanded full documentation by now, and that documentation would have been released to customers as well.
>
> EZproxy does not cluster well.  The peering support is functional, but not seamless when there is a failure.  When a proxy in the server pool goes down, the patron is prompted for authentication again when they land on a new proxy server, since EZproxy does not share session state.  External load balancers cannot fix this problem, either, for the same reason.
>
> EZproxy does not support gzip compression, causing library access use an additional 80-90% bandwidth for textual content (HTML, CSS, JS, etc).
>
> EZproxy does not support caching, causing library access to use an 
> additional 30-50% additional bandwidth for cacheable web assets. (And 
> yes, you can park a cache in front of EZproxy to offset this, which is 
> how I collected the 30-50% numbers, but doing so breaks the "it's easy 
> and just works" model that EZproxy promises.)
>
> Combine the lack of gzip support with the lack of caching support, and you are looking at around a 60-80% overall increase in bandwidth consumption.  When you have a user community measured in hundreds of users, things like gzip compression and caching may not matter as much, but when your user community is measured in the hundreds of thousands of patrons, these things really do matter, and mean the difference between doubling your bandwidth costs this year, or deferring that expense 5-7 years down the road.
>
> So it's not _just_ $500 per year when you take a step back and look at the bigger picture.  It's $500 per year, plus the per Mb cost of your internet connection - both inbound and outbound - which can be measured in hundreds of dollars per month for larger sites.  If you could could cut that by 2/3 just by switching to a different proxy solution, that might get your attention, even if you shifted the $500/yr support costs to a different entity.
>
> Imagine never hearing "wow this library network is slow" again because a web page that used to load 1MB of content was able to gzip that down to 600KB, and 300KB of that content was served off the local proxy server, leaving just 300KB to pull off the remote server.  How much is a better user experience worth to you?
>
> Bottom line: competition is good.  Just look at how Internet Explorer is almost a sane browser now, thanks largely to competition from Firefox and Chrome.  If coming up with a viable alternative to EZproxy using open source tools causes a security, features, and functionality arms race, then everyone wins.
>


--
Scott Prater
Shared Development Group
General Library System
University of Wisconsin - Madison
[log in to unmask]
5-5415

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

Advanced Options


Options

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password


Search Archives

Search Archives


Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe


Archives

March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003

ATOM RSS1 RSS2



LISTS.CLIR.ORG

CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager