Loopback Rules

Using loopback rules, it is possible to control which host and protocol the WAX uses to retrieve content for optimization. A common example is where your primary site exposes an HTTPS only interface – in this case, configuring an additional HTTP binding for the site provides a means for WAX to load resource content without having to establish an SSL connection. This has the benefit of reducing server load caused by encryption of SSL sessions.

To add a loopback rule to your site, create or edit the loopbackRules child element within the wax:configuration element:

Attribute usage:

from: defines the hostname and optionally protocol to map from [mandatory] (* may be used as a wildcard for hostname)

to: the target host name and optionally protocol and port that requests should be sent to [mandatory]

hostHeader: uses the specified host header instead of the hostname in the URL of the to attribute

To enable this to work for the example shown, a binding must exist in IIS that looks like this:

Note: If you have any custom code or a module that switches connections up to SSL, you will have to add an exclusion for the IP or Port used for the loopback rule so that it is not automatically redirected.