Providing a pragmatic approach to changing Internet protocols, this book introduces the SOCKS standard (Simple Solutions to Complex Problems). The SOCKS standard was originally developed as a generic proxy protocol, making it possible for network administrators to simply limit access to the Internet. The authors describe how to use an existing solution to problems within the Internet that would reduce rather than increase the complexity of an already complex system. The authors describe how to build a SOCKS-based solution as well as the tradeoffs with other approaches, such as IPv6.