Instantaneous non-blocking content purging in a distributed platform

A computer-implemented method for purging content from a distributed platform that operates a plurality of storage servers to cache and distribute content, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• with a particular storage server of the plurality of storage servers having a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium, caching a plurality of content to the non-transitory computer-readable medium;
• receiving a purge operation to initiate removal of at least two items of content from the plurality of content that is cached to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the purge operation comprising a first identifier with a wildcard character that identifies the at least two items of content;
• generating a content purge pattern based on the purge operation, the content purge pattern comprising a pattern that is match for the at least two items of content identified by the first identifier;
• entering the content purge pattern to a configuration of the particular storage server, wherein entering the content purge pattern effectively purges the at least two items of content from the particular storage server by averting access to the at least two items of content that are cached to the non-transitory computer-readable medium;
• and
• executing a cache miss in response to a user request comprising a second identifier that matches the pattern specified for the content purge pattern, the second identifier identifying particular content from the plurality of content that is previously cached to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, and wherein executing the cache miss physically purges the particular content identified by the second identifier from the non-transitory computer-readable medium.

A computer-implemented method for purging content in a distributed platform, the distributed platform operating a plurality of storage servers and at least one purge control server, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• caching to storage of a particular storage server of the plurality of storage servers, a plurality of content with a first timestamp corresponding to a time when the content is cached;
• providing from the particular storage server to the purge control server, a second timestamp for a most recent purge operation that the particular storage server received from the purge control server;
• retrieving a purge operation from the purge control server identifying (i) particular content from the plurality of content to purge and (ii) a third timestamp associated with the purge operation;
• and
• responding to a user request for the particular content with a cache miss when the first timestamp for the particular content that is cached to the particular storage server is older than the third timestamp for the purge operation.