Patent ID: 8296523

Claim:
A dual timer fragment caching method comprising: establishing both a soft timeout and also a hard timeout for each fragment in a fragment cache, the soft timeout indicating a period of time subsequent to a lapsing of which a corresponding fragment becomes stale, the hard timeout indicating a period of time subsequent to a lapsing of which a corresponding fragment is so stale as to be evicted from the fragment cache; and, managing the fragment cache by a dual timer fragment caching module executing in memory by a processor of a host server, (A) the module evicting fragments in the fragment cache subsequent to a lapsing of a corresponding hard timeout, and (B) the module responding to multiple requests by multiple requestors for a stale fragment in the fragment cache with a lapsed corresponding soft timeout by returning the stale fragment from the fragment cache to some of the requestors, by retrieving and returning a new form of the stale fragment to others of the requestors, and by replacing the stale fragment in the fragment cache with the new form of the stale fragment with a reset soft timeout and hard timeout.