Resource management, backend application

Hi guys,

Is it possible in squid to ensure that a badly behaving backend
application doesn't eat up all squid resources?

E.g.: at work we have an Apache reverse proxy in front of a number of
backend hosts. If one of the backend applications misbehaves, this can
result in all of apache's worker processes being held up by this
application, resulting in apache hanging and all sites going offline.
In apache, AFAIK, there is no way to prevent this.

But can squid handle this scenario in a way that only the site with the
misbehaving application goes offline without pulling the other sites
down with it?

I understand that the way squid and apache works is different, but
that's not really important for me. I just want to use the best tool for
the job.

TIA,

/tony