Web cache: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|System for optimizing the Web}}

A '''Webweb cache''' (or '''HTTP cache''') is a system for optimizing the World Wide Web. It is implemented both client-side and server-side. The caching of multimedia and other files can result in less overall delay when [[web browser|browsing]] the Web.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fountis |first=Yorgos |date=4 May 2017 |title=How does the browser cache work? |url=https://pressidium.com/blog/2017/browser-cache-work/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Messaoud |first1=S. |last2=Youssef |first2=H. |date=2009 |title=An analytical model for the performance evaluation of stack-based Webweb cache replacement algorithms |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dac.1036 |journal=International Journal of Communication Systems |language=en |volume=23 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1002/dac.1036|s2cid=46507769 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Parts of the system==

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A forward cache is a cache outside the [[web server]]'s network, e.g. in the client's [[web browser]], in an [[ISP]], or within a corporate network. A network-aware forward cache only caches heavily accessed items. A proxy server sitting between the client and web server can evaluate HTTP headers and choose whether to store web content.

A reverse cache sits in front of one or more web servers, accelerating requests from the Internet and reducing peak server load. This is usually a [[content delivery network]] (CDN) that retains copies of web content at various points throughout a network.

===HTTP options===

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==Legality==

In 1998, the [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]] added rules to the United States Code (17 U.S.C. §: 512) that exempts system operators from copyright liability for the purposes of caching.

==Server-side software==