Patent ID: 6505241
Filing Date: 2003-01-07
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
A network-infrastructure cache for providing proxy services to a plurality of client workstations concurrently requesting access to data stored on a server; the client workstations and the server being interconnected by a network via which client workstations may transmit network-file-services-protocol requests to the server, and via which the server transmits network-file-services-protocol responses to requesting client workstations; the network-infrastructure cache comprising:a network interface that connects to the network for providing a hardware and software interface to the network through which the network-infrastructure cache receives and responds to network-file-services-protocol requests from client workstations for data for which the network-infrastructure cache provides proxy services; a file-request service-module for receiving via said network interface network-file-services-protocol requests transmitted by the client workstations for data for which the network-infrastructure cache provides proxy services, and for transmitting to client workstations via said network interface network-file-services-protocol responses to the network-file-services-protocol requests; a cache from which said file-request service-module retrieves data that is included in the network-file-services-protocol responses that said file-request service-module transmits to the client workstations; and a file-request generation-module for transmitting to the server via said network interface network-file-services-protocol requests for data specified in network-file-services-protocol requests received by said file-request service-module that is missing from said cache, for receiving from the server network-file-services-protocol responses that include data missing from said cache, and for transmitting such missing data to said cache for storage therein.