The Technical Principles
HAN as a Reverse Proxy
A web proxy can perform various functions, such as caching web sites for repeated access, etc. One of the possible uses of such a system is as a reverse proxy..
A reverse proxy is an intermediate web server that receives requests from a browser, communicates with an actual web server, and passes content from that server back to the browser. This means that the browser does not communicate with the actual content provider, but only with the reverse proxy server. The advantage is that the reverse proxy server can manage all the ancillary communication with the content provider that is necessary to obtain the content.
HAN is a reverse proxy in the sense described above. Users can access online resources by communicating only with the HAN server.
To publish online resources using HAN server, the administrator defines a URL as an entry point for each e-journal in the form http://<HAN host>/han/<HAN resource ID>. The user then points a browser at this URL in order to access the on-line resource. The HAN server then initiates communication with the content provider, executing any scripts necessary for authentication or other purposes. Once the content server supplies the desired document, HAN delivers it to the user.