You can configure Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to use a proxy server when it creates full-text indexes of external Web sites. Using a proxy server enhances the security of your intranet by helping to prevent unauthorized access by someone on the Internet. A proxy server also enhances performance by caching recently accessed Web pages, which minimizes download time.

By default, SharePoint Portal Server uses the proxy server setting of the default content access account. The default content access account uses the current proxy server settings from Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Changes to the proxy settings for the SharePoint Portal Server computer do not affect other applications on the server. For example, configuring the server to use a proxy server that is different from the proxy server used by Internet Explorer does not affect Internet Explorer.

Changing the proxy settings on the Search Server Settings page affects servers running the index component. For other servers, you can change the proxy settings from the Configure Server Farm Account Settings page. For more information, see Configuring Server Farm Account Settings.

Specify proxy server settings

1. On the SharePoint Portal Server Central Administration for server_name page, in the Component Configuration section, click Manage the Search Service.
2. On the Manage Search Settings page, in the Servers and Topology section, click the server name.
3. On the Search Server Settings page, in the Proxy Server Settings section, do one of the following:
   • Click Do not connect by using a proxy server.
   • Click Use the proxy server specified, and then specify the following:
     1. In the Address box, type the address of the proxy server that you want SharePoint Portal Server to use while creating full-text indexes.
     2. In the Port box, type the port number for the proxy server that you want SharePoint Portal Server to use while creating indexes of sites and servers.
     3. If you do not want SharePoint Portal Server to use the proxy server when creating an index of local addresses, select the Bypass proxy server for local (intranet) addresses check box.
     4. If you have specific addresses for which you do not want to use the proxy server, in the Do not use proxy server for addresses beginning with box, type the addresses.
4. Click Apply.