System and method for providing virtual web access

A client-based computer system configured to communicate with a set of servers through a network and to provide access to content provided by the servers, the system comprising:

• a storage device coupled to a client computer and configured to cache the content of the servers;
• a cache manager configured to execute on the client computer and to specify which of the servers to cache and how much of the content of each of the servers to cache;
• and
• a cache that is coupled to a client application, wherein for each server of the set of servers, the cache is configured to:
• communicate with the server over the network;
• transparently intercept a request from the client application to the server;
• automatically determine when to
• send the request to, and provide a response from, the server over the network, or
• provide one of a plurality of cached responses from the storage device, to appear to the client application as though the client application sent the request to, and received the response from, the server;
• and
• when the cache determines to send the request to the server:
• send the request to the server to appear to the server as though the client application sent the request;
• provide the response from the server;
• and
• store the response from the server among the cached responses stored on the storage device according to the specifications of the cache manager.