Patent ID: 8402112
Filing Date: 2013-03-19
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. In a computing environment comprising a hierarchy of caching nodes which together form a distributed caching topology, a method of servicing resource requests from a user at a client system, the method comprising: at a first caching node, receiving a request from a user at a client system for a first resource; checking a local cache at the first caching node for the first resource and determining that the first resource is not available at the local cache of the first caching node; the first caching node then serving as a proxy for the client system and forwarding the user request to a second caching node in the hierarchy; receiving at the first caching node a reply from the second caching node that includes as part of the reply an indication of whether the requested first resource is available at the second caching node, and also a header that includes information indicating (i) overall health of the second caching node as represented by performance, availability or reliability, and (ii) current load at the second caching node; storing at the first caching node the header information; and thereafter, when receiving at the first caching node any further request for other resources which the first caching node is not able to provide, the first caching node using the stored header information to check at least one of health or load of the second caching node and based on the stored header information determining whether to request the other resource from the second caching node or a different caching node.