Research: Deliverables: D4.1 Review of Caching Technologies & New Opportunities

This deliverable reviews the current and emerging web caching technologies which will be explored during the execution of the DESIRE II Contract.

The report is available in the following formats:

• Review of Caching Technologies & New Opportunities (HTML version)
• MS Word 97 (91k)
• RTF version (123k)

A Peer review for an earlier draft of the report is also available:

• Review by Martin Hamilton, University of Loughborough.

Abstract

Web caching is a process which attempts to improve the efficiency with which information on the World Wide Web can be accessed by keeping copies of frequently-requested information close to the information user; the set of copies of information is known as the cache. Much in the same way that a microprocessor cache can reduce memory-access latency and reduce the bus bandwidth required to retrieve data from main memory, a web cache can reduce the delay in retrieving documents and reduce the communications bandwidth required for retrieval. The web caching process is implemented by a caching proxy. This document reviews the current and emerging web caching technologies which will be explored during the execution of the DESIRE II Contract.

Keywords

WWW, Web, Caching, Proxy, Replication, ICP, HTTP