Cache index database
NOTE: WinGate 7 only. WinGate 8 uses a proprietary cache index system that requires no configuration. As with WinGate 7, a default volume will be created for you if one does not exist.
The cache index is the heart of the cache system. It is used to store the information required to match and verify subsequent requests and allow caching to operate at all. Therefore the performance of the database used for the cache index is of paramount importance.
Initial configuration
When WinGate first starts, and there is no database specified for the HTTP Cache index, WinGate creates a default System DSN called WinGate Cache using the Microsoft Access driver.
The Microsoft Access driver is chosen because it is available on all versions of Windows supported by WinGate, and therefore can be relied upon to be present.
It is however not considered high enough performance to support many web users through a company proxy, and we highly recommend that a different database is used. It is also known to have certain issues relating to concurrency, degradation of performance with size (number of records), and memory leaks (as at 2011).
Changing database
The HTTP Cache connects to the index database via ODBC. ODBC is an open standard database interface supported by many database vendors, which uses vendor-supplied drivers to connect to specific databases.
The HTTP Cache in WinGate 7 has been tested on:
- Microsoft Access driver (MS Jet Engine 4.0)
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- Microsoft SQL Server (native and ODBC drivers)
Configuring the HTTP Cache to use an alternative database is a simple process. This is fully explained in the Cache Settings - Advanced section
Recommendations
- Use a high performance database. All the client-server databases we tested performed well.
- Use a database on a different server. This will reduce CPU contention on the WinGate computer.
