Method and system for an efficient distributed cache with a shared cache repository

An apparatus comprising:

• a storage device of a cache device for storing a local index of a shared cache storage system;
• a network cache module coupled to the storage device, said network cache module receiving requests for at least one content resource from at least one client system, the content resource including content and metadata regarding the content, said network cache module serving said at least one content resource from the shared cache storage system when the local index of said shared cache storage system specifies said shared cache storage system contains said at least one content resource;
• and
• an index maintenance module coupled to the network cache module, said index maintenance module updating said local index of said shared cache storage system at said storage device of said cache device upon receiving a message from a peer cache device that has added new content to said shared cache storage system and has updated a local index of said shared cache storage system at said peer cache device to reflect said new content, the cache device and the peer cache device sharing a common storage resource in the shared cache storage system, each peer cache device having a separate local index.

A computer-readable, non-transitory medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform operations comprising:

• receiving at a cache device a request from a client system for a content resource, the content resource including content and metadata regarding the content, said cache device comprising a local index of a shared cache storage system, the shared cache storage system being accessible by a plurality of cache devices, each of the plurality of cache devices maintaining a separate local index of the shared cache storage system;
• examining said local index of said shared cache storage system at said cache device to determine whether said content resource is available in said shared cache storage system;
• requesting said content resource from an original data source in response to a determination that said content resource is not available in said shared cache storage system;
• storing said content resource in said shared cache storage system;
• updating said local index of the single shared cache storage system at said cache device receiving the request to include the metadata of said content resource to reflect said content resource stored in said shared cache storage system;
• transmitting a message to at least one peer cache device when storing said content resource in said shared cache storage system, the cache device and the at least one peer cache device sharing a common storage resource in the shared cache storage system;
• and
• updating said local index at said at least one peer cache device in response to said message to reflect said content resource stored in said shared cache storage system.