BI-DIRECTIONAL PERIPHERY CACHING SYSTEMS AND METHODS

摘要

Systems and methods for obtaining about a hit rate of over about fifty (50 %) percent and up to as much as about eighty (80 %) percent for content request originating from end users that are part of at least one network, the content request being fulfilled by communications with a Cache Farm directly operatively communicating with the end user's network, the end user's network being one of at least two networks directly operatively connected to the Cache Farm. The caching systems and methods of the present application utilize a series of small (in terms of disk capacity) Cache Farms, transparent caches or "injectors" in communication the ISP network border router. The injectors may be clustered together at network access points (NAP). Networks at these NAPs then use WCCP protocol on their routers, or Layer 4 switches, to redirect their traffic to these clusters of injectors or Cache Farm. This redirection occurs over a dedicated high speed "cross connect" from the network border router to the injector farm or Cache Farm. The network border router is programmed to handle OUTBOUND content requests for its end users, and INBOUND content requests for its content provider customers. For the content that is not located on the injector Cache Farm, the injector Cache Farm will communicate with a Central Cache to determine if the Central Cache has the requested content. There is at least about a seventy five (75 %) percent chance, according to the systems and methods of the present application that the requested content will be cached or stored on the Central Cache and thus the end user receives the requested content without use of a NAP or electronic traffic over an Internet backbone.