Polipo

Polipo is a lightweight, caching web proxy. It's designed to be fast and small, and is particularly suitable for personal use or small networks. Polipo supports a variety of features, including persistent caching, HTTP/1.1 pipelining, and the ability to connect to other proxy servers, including SOCKS proxies.

Key Features:

• Caching: Polipo caches web content to reduce latency and bandwidth usage. The cache is persistent across restarts.
• HTTP/1.1 Pipelining: Polipo utilizes HTTP/1.1 pipelining to improve performance by sending multiple requests over a single connection.
• Parent Proxy Support: Polipo can be configured to use other proxy servers as its "parent," allowing it to be integrated into existing proxy setups. This includes support for SOCKS proxies.
• IPv6 Support: Polipo is capable of handling IPv6 traffic.
• Customizable: Polipo's behavior can be extensively customized through its configuration file.
• Lightweight: Polipo is designed to be resource-efficient, making it suitable for low-powered devices.

Use Cases:

Polipo is commonly used in the following scenarios:

• Personal Web Proxy: Individuals can use Polipo to cache web content on their local machines, improving browsing speed and reducing bandwidth consumption.
• Small Network Proxy: Polipo can be deployed as a proxy server for small networks, providing caching and improved performance for multiple users.
• Proxy Chain: Polipo can be used as part of a proxy chain, connecting to other proxy servers to access blocked content or improve security.
• Mobile Devices: Due to its lightweight nature, Polipo is sometimes used on mobile devices to reduce data usage.

Alternatives:

Other web proxy servers include Squid, Privoxy, and Tinyproxy.