cache issue-- proxy server, browser issue?

I tell my boss to check out the new page: he sees the old one and gets mad.

[dragonlady7]

Let me start out by saying I know almost nothing about our server configuration-- and the catch is, nobody else does either. Our "networking guy" is a programmer who does other things and can't remember any of the details of the webserver he set up five years ago.
So I don't even know where to start looking for the source of this problem.

I'm working on the company website. It's online on the company webserver, in a testing directory. Everything was fine for months, and now all of a sudden in the last two weeks, this problem has begun.
The boss comes, says I want you to add this text and graphic on this page, and goes away. I do as he asks, and email him the URL of the new page, saying "check it out, I made the changes you asked for." He goes to the URL in the email. He sees the old page. He refreshes. Old page. He clears his browser's temporary Internet files and reloads. Old page.
He goes to the other machine in his office and checks from there. Same deal: old page.
He goes home and checks it there. Same deal: Old page.

He draws the inevitable conclusion that I'm being cheeky and comes into work the next morning in a towering rage.

On my computer at work, it shows the new page. Using an FTP program I look on the server and it has the new page. On my computer from home, it's the new page. But at the computer next to mine at work, it's the old page.

What the heck can even be going on? The "networking guy" insists we don't have a proxy server. (We have net filters. If I try to visit a blocked site like, say, Google (sometimes) or any news site in San Francisco, I get a message that talks about our proxy server, Squid, and how the site is blocked. I tried pointing that out to the networking guy and he said no, it's not really a proxy server. Sure it ain't, buddy.)

Can anyone just give me a possible pointer to what this stupid issue can be? It's taken all the gumption I have to manage to convince my boss that I am, in fact, doing what he tells me. And even though the server is not my bailiwick, it's emphatically my problem.

This is inconsistent, as well, and my coworkers keep telling me when they have problems but they're hopeless at troubleshooting. "It happened a couple times, then it was ok" is as specific as they get, and they won't even specify what "it" was. For some reason it never happens to me unless the boss is standing right there. "See, it doesn't happen on my... oh, there it is. Um..."
Where do I start? I don't know enough to respond intelligently when the Networking Guy shoots me down. I have to sort this out, it's ridiculous.

[bcolflesh]

Your "networking" guy doesn't have Squid setup correctly - have him read:

squid-cache.org/

[mattur]

Google "cacheability engine" for a useful tool that shows how cacheable a page is, and for an excellent tutorial about caching. HTH

[dragonlady7]

I don't think it's that *we* use Squid, I think it's that the stupid net filters we use to keep our employees from reading, oh, the Syndey Herald (also blocked, randomly) or ESPN.com use Squid. So to "NG"'s small credit, he may not even have any control over that.
But I will certainly ask him about it. :/
I mean, obviously it's a cacheing issue, and obviously it's something to do with our server, but... Argh. Nobody listens to me when I try to actually solve the problem rather than work around it. But it's my problem that the problem exists.

Thank you for your advice so far, and I will certainly be looking into your suggestions.

[dragonlady7]

I spoke to our Networking Guy (he's quite nice, really, it's just not his area of expertise and he could care less in general) and asked him about Squid. He said that Squid isn't used for internal issues-- such as someone inside the company asking for the company website-- and he suspects rather that it's a DNS issue. Apparently, the network is set up so that internally, we see our company website as "ourcompany.org" but from outside, people would view "ourcompany.com" instead. However, I can see both the .com and .org views from inside, and several others can see only the .com, while some can only see the .org. So perhaps he's right; it's just that that's been an issue for months and people have quickly learned to switch to the other if one's not working.
I don't understand that at all, but apparently neither does Networking Guy.

[bcolflesh]

So when Squid is completely disabled you still have the exact same problems?

[dragonlady7]

Good thought. He keeps insisting that it's not Squid, so he won't make any changes to it, but maybe if I persist I can get him to turn Squid off for a while.
The problem is how inconsistent the problem is. It's almost impossible to test anything because sometimes it's a problem, sometimes it's not, and the only person who could instantly verify if the problem is happening is me-- who it never happens for. My boss doesn't know if the version he's looking at is the current one or not, and he doesn't think to come get me until later-- when I don't know what he's talking about because the latest version is showing with no problem.

But if y'all really think it's probably Squid, maybe I can get the networking guy to try something. He doesn't want to listen, though, and is sure it's something about DNS somethings.
My head hurts.

[plumsauce]

Well it could be the browser settings, browser version,
server setup, or meta tags in the page, or a proxy.
But it is *not* dns. I *am* a network guy.

From previous posts, your boss is a type A personality.

A good move would be to do a screen capture, and send
it along with your message, along with the url so he
can compare. This should at least give a hint that
you did the changes as asked, and on time.

Then he is going to start asking questions elsewhere.
If the programmer is not a network guy, then your boss
should hire one to fix everything up. Your boss's
*job* is to provide you with the tools you need to
get the work out the door. It is also not fair for
him to expect the programmer to do a network admin's
job unless the programmer wants to. I do both, but
that's me.

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