06026452 is referenced by 274 patents and cites 26 patents.
A method and apparatus for caching data in a Network Distributed Cache ("NDC") (50) that is included in a network of digital computers (22, 24, 26A and 26B). The NDC (50) includes an NDC buffer (129) for storing at least a portion of an image of a dataset such as a file (156) retrieved from a server site (22) in response to a request from a client workstation (42) to access the dataset. The NDC (50) allocates channels (116) that store metadata extracted from the requests to access the dataset for which the channels (116) have been claimed, and from responses to such requests. The NDC (50) uses accumulated data stored in channels (116) to anticipate future requests to access datasets, and to forestall, as much as practicable, the client workstation (42) from experiencing any delay in accessing data by asynchronously pre-fetching data in advance of receiving a request from a client workstation (42).
