Dynamic Web Service Caching for Peak Server Load Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Web TV applications face significant server load due to high variability in request rates and traffic peaks, leading to inefficiencies and high costs in server sizing to handle these peaks, which are often unpredictable.
Innovation Solution
A method involving traffic measurement-based cache duration assignment for dynamically determined web pages, allowing the server to reduce load during high traffic by caching pages for varying durations based on server load, using mechanisms like HTTP headers to manage caching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the server builds web pages dynamically for each request to handle traffic peaks, then the server can provide personalized content and maintain good search engine referencing, but the server load increases significantly during high traffic periods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic cache duration assignment that adjusts the caching behavior based on current server load conditions. When server load is high, longer cache durations are assigned to reduce immediate processing demands, while when load is low, shorter or zero cache durations ensure fresh content delivery. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by making the system adaptable to varying traffic conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the cache duration parameter based on server load measurements. By monitoring server performance metrics and adjusting the cache-Control header's max-age parameter dynamically, the system can shift between serving cached content (reducing load) and generating fresh content (improving personalization), thus resolving the contradiction between server load and content freshness.
2Productivity
If the server assigns long cache duration to reduce server load during peaks, then server load decreases, but user experience deteriorates due to stale content
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts cache duration based on real-time server load measurements rather than using static caching policies. This allows the system to optimize between load reduction and content freshness by adapting the cache duration to current conditions, resolving the contradiction between these two opposing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where server load is continuously measured and this information feeds back into the cache duration assignment decision. The server monitors its own performance and adjusts caching behavior accordingly, ensuring that content freshness is maintained when load is low while allowing cache usage when load is high, thus resolving the contradiction.
3Reliability
If the server sizes resources to handle traffic peaks, then the server can handle load peaks without degradation, but operational costs increase due to oversized resources during nominal regime
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by assigning cache durations in advance based on predicted or measured traffic patterns. By proactively caching content before peak traffic arrives, the system prepares the infrastructure to handle peaks without requiring permanently oversized resources, thus reducing operational costs while maintaining peak handling capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses dynamic resource allocation through adaptive caching rather than static oversizing. By adjusting cache duration based on actual traffic conditions, the system can handle peaks efficiently without maintaining permanently oversized server resources, resolving the contradiction between reliability and operational costs.
4Reliability
If the server assigns zero or minimal cache duration to ensure content freshness, then content freshness is maintained, but server load increases during high traffic periods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic cache duration assignment that adjusts between zero/minimal and longer durations based on server load conditions. This resolves the contradiction by making cache duration a variable parameter rather than a fixed value, allowing the system to optimize between freshness and load reduction in real-time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the cache duration parameter dynamically based on server load measurements. By monitoring server performance and adjusting the max-age parameter in the Cache-Control header, the system can switch between serving fresh content (when load is low) and cached content (when load is high), resolving the contradiction between freshness and load.
Data Source
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AI summary
Method for access by a client (C) to a web service deployed on a server (S) through a telecommunications network (N), said method comprising steps of: - reception (S1) of a request (mr) designating a requested page associated with said web service, - measurement (S2) of traffic relating to said server, and - allocation (S3) of a cache duration for said requested page as a function of said measurement.