1. Have my local squid server use a collection of upstream servers by
default as the next host when serving a HTTP or FTP request
You need to use the cache-peer option in the squid configuration file:
For example:
cache_peer proxy.parent.com parent 3128 3130 round-robin
cache_peer proxy.parent2.com parent 3128 3130 round-robinIf one goes down, it will be marked as 'invalid' and will not be used untill it's available again.
But pls note that round robin proxies can give problems with 'shopping sites' or similar. -something I discovered a few weeks ago.
because most sites are 'storing' the IP, and because the ip can change, some big problems can occurs. (you can solve this for particular websites by using cache_peer_access option but then you won't have 'round robin' for those websites)
For more info regarding this: http://squid.visolve.com/squid24s1/neighbour.htm
2. Obscure the external address of my proxy to the outside world
The ip address of your local proxy or the parent proxy? The IP visible to the outside world is the 'highest" proxy. So the one that is connect to the internet.
rgrds,
Bart
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