Patent ID: 8539160

Claim:
A method comprising: locating, by a computing system, a data entry in a cache in response to a first request to access the data entry, wherein the cache has an expiration timeout that, when exceeded by an amount of time since a last update of a particular data entry, indicates that the particular data entry is to be updated before being provided, and wherein the cache has a refresh timeout that is shorter than the expiration timeout, and wherein when an amount of time since a last update of a particular data entry exceeds the refresh timeout but does not exceed the expiration timeout, the particular data entry can be provided once before being updated; receiving by the computing system, at a particular time that occurs after the first request, a second request to access the data entry, wherein a difference between the particular time and a time at which the data entry was last updated exceeds the refresh timeout but does not exceed the expiration timeout; in response to the second request, providing the data entry and transmitting a refresh request to refresh the data entry; receiving by the computing system, after the transmitting of the refresh request but before the data entry has been refreshed, a third request to access the data entry; and in response to the third request, providing the data entry after the data entry has been refreshed.