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Types of Reverse Proxy Solutions

SiteMinder supports the following reverse proxy solutions:

• The Apache-based reverse proxy agent
• The Oracle iPlanet-based reverse proxy agent
• The SiteMinder Secure Proxy Server

How Reverse Proxy Servers Work with SiteMinder

A reverse proxy server is a proxy server that acts on behalf of an enterprise to forward requests to the internal network of an organization. The reverse proxy server allows clients to access resources on backend servers (those servers behind a firewall).

Reverse proxy servers provide the following advantages:

• Users within a cookie domain can access resources on backend servers without reauthenticating. Users from other domains must authenticate through the reverse proxy server and typically, a firewall before gaining access to those same backend servers.
• Users can access different resources that are hosted on several backend servers using the same domain name.
• Reverse proxy agents support the same features as other SiteMinder agents.
• Protection resources that are on servers for which a SiteMinder agent is not supported. In this situation, deploy a reverse proxy server before the backend server. The supported agent protects the resources hosted on the backend server. The backend server does not require a SiteMinder agent.

SiteMinder agents that are installed on the reverse proxy server can protect resources on backend servers. The following illustration shows a network with a reverse proxy server using a SiteMinder agent:

SiteMinder Reverse Proxy Deployment Considerations

Typically, when you deploy an Apache or Oracle iPlanet reverse proxy Agent, a firewall is located between the Apache or Oracle iPlanet Web Agent and the servers hosting the protected resources. The Policy Server should also be located behind the firewall.

The following illustration shows a SiteMinder reverse proxy deployment.

When deploying a SiteMinder reverse proxy Agent, consider the following:

• If a policy has been configured to return response attributes, the variables are sent to both the reverse proxy server and the backend web server on which the protected resource resides. When a request is made for a protected resource, the Policy Server first sends response attributes (CGI or HTTP variables) to the Agent on the Apache or Oracle iPlanet server. The Agent then puts the response attributes in the request that is sent to the backend server.
• If any of the backend servers or protected applications provide their own authentication functionality, the authentication must be disabled. Disabling the backend authentication ensures that SiteMinder’s authentication takes precedence.

  Important! When configuring the cache for the reverse proxy be aware that all cookies are cached, including the SMSESSION cookie. For assistance see your Apache or Oracle iPlanet web server documentation.

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