Abstract:
A novel method and structure in which data caching is based on data contents. The method comprises the steps of (a) sending a data request from a processing circuit to a target server; (b) in response to the target server receiving the data request, sending a first response portion of a data response from the target server to the processing circuit; and {circle around (c)} in response to the processing circuit receiving the first response portion, using the processing circuit to examine the first response portion so as to determine whether the processing circuit contains a copy of the data response; and (d) in response to the processing circuit determining that the processing circuit contains a copy of the data response, sending the copy of the data response from the processing circuit to a client machine.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Technical Field 
   The present invention relates to data caching, and more particularly, to compressed Internet data caching based on data contents. 
   2. Related Art 
   Typically, from time to time, a client machine may request identical data using different URLs (Uniform Resource Locator). For example, a PC (personal computer) may request a first web page from a first website and later request a second web page from a second website, wherein the first and second web pages contain identical pieces of information (e.g., identical pictures). As a result, the same data will be sent to the PC twice, resulting in a waste of network bandwidth. 
   As a result, there is a need for a method and structure, in which identical pieces of information at different URLs are sent to the client machine in a way that uses less network (internet) bandwidth than in the prior art. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides a method, comprising the steps of (a) sending, by a proxy server, a data request to a target server; and (b) in response to the proxy server receiving a first response portion of a data response from the target server, examining, by the proxy server, the first response portion so as to determine whether a data storage device contains a copy of the data response. 
   The present invention also provides a computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code comprising an algorithm adapted to implement a method for data transfer, said method comprising the steps of (a) sending, by a proxy server, a data request to a target server; and (b) in response to the proxy server receiving a first response portion of a data response from the target server, examining, by the proxy server, the first response portion so as to determine whether a data storage device contains a copy of the data response. 
   The present invention also provides a method for deploying computing infrastructure, comprising integrating computer-readable code into a computing system, wherein the code in combination with the computing system is capable of performing the steps of (a) sending, by a proxy server, a data request to a target server; and (b) in response to the proxy server receiving a first response portion of a data response from the target server, examining, by the proxy server, the first response portion so as to determine whether a data storage device contains a copy of the data response. 
   The present invention also provides method, comprising the steps of (a) sending, by a proxy server, a data request to a target server, (b) in response to the target server receiving the data request, sending, by the target server, a data packet of a data response to the proxy server, {circle around (c)} in response to the proxy server receiving the data packet, examining, by the proxy server, a header of the data packet so as to determine whether the data response is of a compressed graphic format; (d) in response to the proxy server determining that the data response is of the compressed graphic format, examining, by the proxy server, the header so as to determine whether the data response comprises more than one packet; and (e) in response to the proxy server determining that the data response comprises more than one packet, examining, by the proxy server, a data portion of the data packet so as to determine whether a data storage device contains a copy of the data response. 
   The present invention also provides a method and structure, in which identical pieces of information at different URLs are sent to a client machine in a way that uses less network (internet) bandwidth than in the prior art. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a system, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a flow chart of a method for operating the system of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3A  illustrates a packet that can be transmitted in the system of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3B  illustrates a look-up table that can be used with the system of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates one embodiment of a proxy server of the system of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   File (or data) compression is an art of substituting long, repeating sequences of bytes in the file by a short reference to a dictionary. The short reference to the dictionary is referred to as the compressed file. The inventors of the present invention have observed that if two beginning portions of two well-compressed files are identical, the two well-compressed files are also identical. “Well compressed” means data cannot be substantially compressed any further. For instance, a JPEG file is well-compressed (JPEG is a digital image format from Joint Photographic Experts Group). In other words, the inventors of the present invention finds that a beginning portion of a well-compressed file can uniquely and correctly identify the entire well-compressed file. As a result, the present invention can be generally stated in a context of a communication between a proxy server and a target server as follows. When the proxy server receives only a beginning portion of a response from the target server, the proxy server can determine whether the response is a well-compressed file. If so, the proxy server can use the beginning portion to search in a look-up table to determine whether the proxy server contains a cached copy of the response. If so, the proxy server can terminate communication with the target server and therefore save connection bandwidth of the network connection between the target server and the proxy server. Different embodiments of the present invention will be discussed infra. 
     FIG. 1  illustrates a system  100 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The system  100  can illustratively comprise a target server  110 , an interconnect network (e.g., the internet)  120 , a proxy server  130 , and a client machine  140 .  FIG. 2  illustrates a flow chart of a method  200  for operating the system  100  of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
   With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the method  200  can start with a step  210  in which the client machine  140  sends a data request to the proxy server  130 . The data request specifically indicates the target server  110  as the destination of the data request. 
   Next, in step  215 , in response to receiving the data request from the client machine  140 , the proxy server  130  forwards the data request to the target server  110  via the interconnect network  120 . 
   Next, in step  220 , in response to receiving the data request from the proxy server  130 , the target server  110  sends the first packet of the data response to the proxy server  130  via the interconnect network  120 . 
   Next, in step  225 , in response to receiving the first packet, the proxy server  130  determines whether the data response contains, illustratively, JPEG data. In one embodiment, the interconnect network  120  can comprise the internet, and the first packet conforms to the TCP/IP protocol (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).  FIG. 3A  illustrates one embodiment of the first packet (hereafter referred to the first packet  310 ). The first packet  310  can comprise a header  320  and a data portion  330 . The proxy server  130  can determine whether the data response contains JPEG data by examining a data type field  320 a of the header  320  of the first packet  310 . 
   With reference back to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , if the proxy server  130  determines that the data response does not contain JPEG data, the method  200  can proceed to step  235 . In step  235 , the data response can be sent from the target server  110  to the client machine  140  using any conventional process. For instance, in step  235 , the target server  110  can send the remainder of the data response to the proxy server  130  via the interconnect network  120 . Then, the proxy server  130  can forward the entire data response (i.e., the first packet and the remainder of the data response) to the client machine  140 . 
   In step  225 , if the proxy server  130  determines that the data response contains JPEG data, the method  200  can proceed to step  230 . In step  230 , the proxy server  130  further determines whether the data response contains more than one packet. The proxy server  130  can determine whether the data response contains more than one packet by examining the data-length field  320   b  ( FIG. 3A ) of the header  320  of the first packet  310 . 
   If the proxy server  130  determines that the data response contains only one packet (i.e., the first packet), the method  200  can proceed to step  235 . In step  235 , the data response can be sent to the client machine  140  using any conventional process. For instance, the proxy server  130  can simply forward the entire data response (i.e., the first packet) to the client machine  140 . 
   In step  230 , if the proxy server  130  determines that the data response contains more than one packet, the method  200  proceeds to step  240 . In step  240 , the proxy server  130  determines whether the proxy server  130  contains a cached copy of the data response by examining the first packet. 
   More specifically, the proxy server  130  can maintain a look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ) which contains multiple entries. Each entry of the look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ) comprises a signature and an associated data response address of a data response which the proxy server  130  has earlier received and stored. The way in which the proxy server  130  builds and updates the look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ) will be described later. For now, in step  240 , the proxy server  130  can apply a Hash function to the first N bytes of the data portion of the first packet so as to generate a signature, wherein N is a pre-specified positive integer. N should not be too small, else there is a high likelihood of the proxy server  130  providing incorrect data response to the client machine  140 . In addition, N should not be larger than the maximum size of a packet less the header size. N can be in a range of 1,000 d-1,300 d (d=decimal). 
   Next, the proxy server  130  can search the look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ) for any currently existing signature which is identical to the just generated signature. If there is a hit (i.e., match), the proxy server  130  can determine that the proxy server  130  already contains a cached copy of the data response. As a result, the proxy server  130  can send a communication termination message to the target server  110  (step  245 ) so as to terminate the communication between the proxy server  130  and the target server  110 , and thus prevent the target server from sending the subsequent packets of the data response, eventually saving the Internet bandwidth. Then, the proxy server  130  can send a cached copy of the data response (which the proxy server  130  has earlier stored) to the client machine  140  (step  255 ). 
   For example, assume that the proxy server  130  finds that signature  1  in the look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ) is identical to the just generated signature (step  240 ). As a result, the proxy server  130  can determine that the proxy server  130  contains a cached copy of the data response. Then, the proxy server  130  can send the communication termination message to the target server  110  (step  245 ) and can send the associated data response  1  (stored at the data response  1 &#39;s address) to the client machine  140  (step  255 ). Here, the proxy server  130  provides the client machine  140  with a cached copy of the data response  1  without receiving the entire data response from the target server  110  via the interconnect network  120 . As a result, the bandwidth of the interconnect network  120  (or the internet  120 , in one embodiment) can be used for other communications. 
     FIG. 4  illustrates one embodiment of the proxy server  130  of  FIG. 1 . The proxy server  130  comprises a processor  91 , an input device  92  coupled to the processor  91 , an output device  93  coupled to the processor  91 , memory devices  94  and  95  each coupled to the processor  91 , a cache  81  coupled to the processor  91 , and network interfaces  82   a  and  82   b  each coupled to the processor  91 . 
   In one embodiment, the cache  81  can be used to store the data responses which the proxy server  130  has received. The look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ) can be stored in the memory devices  94  and  95  or in the cache  81 . The input device  92  may be, inter alia, a keyboard, a mouse, etc. The output device  93  may be, inter alia, a printer, a plotter, a computer screen, a magnetic tape, a removable hard disk, a floppy disk, etc. The memory devices  94  and  95  may be, inter alia, a hard disk, a floppy disk, a magnetic tape, an optical storage such as a compact disc (CD) or a digital video disc (DVD), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory device  95  includes a computer code  97 . The computer code  97  includes an algorithm for performing the tasks of the proxy server  130  of  FIG. 130 . The processor  91  executes the computer code  97 . The memory device  94  includes input data  96 . The input data  96  includes input required by the computer code  97 . The output device  93  displays output from the computer code  97 . Either or both memory devices  94  and  95  (or one or more additional memory devices not shown in  FIG. 4 ) may be used as a computer usable medium (or a computer readable medium or a program storage device) having a computer readable program code embodied therein and/or having other data stored therein, wherein the computer readable program code comprises the computer code  97 . Generally, a computer program product (or, alternatively, an article of manufacture) of the proxy server  130  may comprise said computer usable medium (or said program storage device). 
   While  FIG. 4  shows the proxy server  130  as a particular configuration of hardware and software, any configuration of hardware and software, as would be known to a person of ordinary skill in the art, may be utilized for the purposes stated supra in conjunction with the particular proxy server  130  of  FIG. 4 . For example, the memory devices  94  and  95  may be portions of a single memory device rather than separate memory devices. 
   With reference back to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , again in step  240 , if there is no match (i.e., all the currently existing signatures in the look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ) are different from the just generated signature), then the proxy server  130  can determine that the proxy server  130  does not contain a cached copy of the data response. Then, the proxy server  130  can receive the remainder of the data response from the target server  110  (step  250 ) and store the entire data response in, illustratively, its cache  430  ( FIG. 4 ). In addition, in step  250 , the proxy server  130  can update the look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ) by adding a new entry in the look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ). The signature field of the new entry can contain the just generated signature, and the data response address field of the new entry can contain the address of the data response in the cache  430  ( FIG. 4 ). Then, the proxy server  130  can send a copy of the data response to the client machine  140  (step  255 ). 
   The embodiments above are for illustration only. In general, in response to receiving a data request from the proxy server  130 , the target server  110  can send only a portion of the requested data response to the proxy server  130 . The proxy server  130  then examines the portion of the data response to determine whether the proxy server  130  contains a cached copy of the data response. If the proxy server  130  determines that the proxy server  130  contains a cached copy of the data response, the proxy server  130  terminates communication with the target server  110  and sends a cached copy of the data response to the client machine  140 . If the proxy server  130  determines that the proxy server  130  does not contain a cached copy of the data response, then the proxy server  130  (a) receives the remainder of the data response from the target server  110 , (b) stores the entire data response, {circle around (c)} updates the look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ) accordingly, and (d) sends a copy of the data response to the client machine  140 . 
   The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. With reference to  FIG. 1 , the proxy server  130  can be included in the client machine  140 . For instance, a PC (personal computer) running a web browser can utilize this embodiment. That is, if after receiving a portion of a web server&#39;s data response, the PC finds that the PC has a cached copy of the web server&#39;s data response, the PC can use the cached copy of the data response which the PC has earlier stored without downloading the entire data response from the web server via the internet. 
   In the embodiments described above, the present invention may help save connection bandwidth if the data portions of the data response is in JPEG format (step  225  of  FIG. 2 ). The present invention actually helps save connection bandwidth if the method  200  ( FIG. 2 ) proceeds through the steps  225 ,  230 ,  240 ,  245 , and  255 . In general, the present invention may help save connection bandwidth if the data portions of the data response are in any data format in which a portion of the data response uniquely identifies the entire data response. This is the case when the data portion of the data response is of a compressed graphic format such as JPEG. A file is considered to be of a compressed graphic format if a portion of the file uniquely identifies the entire file. 
   In the embodiments above, signatures are used in the look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ). Alternatively, any value that can be uniquely associated with the data response can be used. For instance, the M first bits (M being a positive integer) of the data portion of the first packet received from the target server  110  can be used to identify the associated data response stored by the proxy server  130  ( FIG. 1 ). Accordingly, each entry of the look-up table  360  ( FIG. 3B ) can comprise an M-first-bits field and a data response address field, wherein the M-first-bits field contains the M first bits of the data portion of the first packet of the associated data response. 
   While particular embodiments of the present invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, many modifications and changes will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to encompass all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.