Title: Network interface device capable of independent provision of web content
Abstract: Web server operations are off loaded to a network interface device, such as a network interface card. The device includes a physical interface to interconnect a network and a web server, and a storage mechanism for web content provided by the web server. The device is capable of independent provision of web content, such as frequently requested content of web pages, thus reducing load on the web server and its storage mechanism. Additional new elements and operations for a network interface device, and a web server system in which it operates, are also described.
Patent Number: 6,892,224 Issued on 05/10/2005 to Strahm, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Strahm; Frederick William (Hillsboro, OR);
Saint-Hilaire; Ylian (Hillsboro, OR)
|
| Assignee:
|
Intel Corporation (Santa Clara, CA)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
945235 |
| Filed:
|
August 31, 2001 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
709/213; 709/229 |
| Intern'l Class: |
H04L 012/50 |
| Field of Search: |
709/213,218,229,249,250,251
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 6055236 | Apr., 2000 | Nessett et al.
| |
| 6473840 | Oct., 2002 | Matthews et al.
| |
| 6549934 | Apr., 2003 | Peterson et al.
| |
| 6584567 | Jun., 2003 | Bellwood et al.
| |
| 6742043 | May., 2004 | Moussa et al.
| |
| 2002/0009079 | Jan., 2002 | Jungck et al.
| |
| 2002/0091844 | Jul., 2002 | Craft et al.
| |
| 2002/0107949 | Aug., 2002 | Rawson, III.
| |
| 2002/0120782 | Aug., 2002 | Dillon et al.
| |
| 2002/0161767 | Oct., 2002 | Shapiro et al.
| |
| 2002/0184441 | Dec., 2002 | Wong et al.
| |
| 2003/0172145 | Sep., 2003 | Nguyen.
| |
| 2003/0233423 | Dec., 2003 | Dilley et al.
| |
| 2004/0073707 | Apr., 2004 | Dillon.
| |
Primary Examiner: Elmore; Reba I.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Fish & Richardson P.C.
Claims
1. A method comprising:
hosting content of a web page at a first mechanism that is capable of responding
to a client request;
storing at least some of the content at a network interface mechanism that is
capable of independently responding to a client request and that is accessible
by the first mechanism, wherein the network interface mechanism provides a physical
interface between a network and the first mechanism; and
providing at least some of the content stored at the network interface mechanism
to a client in response to a request for content sent to the first mechanism by
the client.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing at the network interface
mechanism security-related, operations involving the request.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing at the network interface
mechanism all transmission control protocol processing in fulfilling the request.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising mapping at the network interface
mechanism at least one network address to a particular set of content.
5. The method of claim 1 in which the content stored at the network interface
mechanism includes content most often requested in requests sent to the first mechanism.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising updating the network interface mechanism
using updated content.
7. The method of claim 1 in which the network interface mechanism includes a
network interface card.
8. The method of claim 1 in which the first mechanism includes a server.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing the content to the client
from the first mechanism if the network interface mechanism does not include the content.
10. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing information related to
a client request from the network interface mechanism to the first mechanism if
the network interface mechanism independently handles the client request.
11. The method of claim 10 in which the information includes an indication of
content requested in the client request.
12. An article comprising;
a machine-readable medium which contains machine-executable instructions, the
instructions causing a machine to:
host content of a web page at a first mechanism that is capable of responding
to a client request;
store at least some of the content at a network interface mechanism that is capable
of independently responding to a client request and that is accessible by the first
mechanism, wherein the network interface mechanism provides a physical interface
between a network and the first mechanism; and
provide at least some of the content stored at the network interface mechanism
to a client in response to a request for content sent to the first mechanism by
the client.
13. The article of claim 12 further causing a machine to perform at the network
interface mechanism security-related operations involving the request.
14. The article of claim 12 further causing a machine to perform at the network
interface mechanism all transmission control protocol processing in fulfilling
the request.
15. The article of claim 12 further causing a machine to map at the network interface
mechanism at least one network address to a particular set of content.
16. The article of claim 12 in which the content stored at the network interface
mechanism includes content most often requested in requests sent to the first mechanism.
17. The article of claim 12 further causing a machine to update the network interface
mechanism using updated content.
18. The article of claim 12 in which the network interface mechanism includes
a network interface card.
19. The article of claim 12 in which the first mechanism includes a server.
20. The article of claim 12 further causing a machine to provide the content
to the client from the first mechanism if the network interface mechanism does
not include the content.
21. The article of claim 12 further causing a machine to provide information
related to a client request from the network interface mechanism to the first mechanism
if the network interface mechanism independently handles the client request.
22. The article of claim 21 in which the information includes an indication of
content requested in the client request.
23. A system comprising:
a server configured to host content of a web page and to respond to a client
request; and
a network interface device configured to communicate with the server, to store
at least some of the content of the web page, and to independently provide at least
some of the content stored at the interface in response to a request sent to the
server for web content.
24. The system of claim 23 further comprising a stack included in the interface
and configured to perform security-related operations involving the request.
25. The System of claim 23 in which the interface is also configured to perform
all transmission control protocol processing in fulfilling the request.
26. The system of claim 23 in which the interface is also configured to map at
least one network address to a particular set of content.
27. The system of claim 23 in which the content stored at the interface includes
content most often requested in requests sent to the server.
28. The system of claim 23 further comprising a storage mechanism included in
the interface and configured to store the content.
29. The system of claim 23 further comprising a storage mechanism accessible
by the server and configured to store the content of the web page.
30. The system of claim 23 in which the storage mechanism is also configured
to provide updates to the content to the interface.
31. The system of claim 23 further comprising a proxy included in the interface
and configured to retrieve the content from storage.
32. The system of claim 23 in which the network interface device includes a network
interface card.
33. The system of claim 23 in which the interface is also configured to provide
the content in response to the request if the interface does not include the web content.
34. A network interface device comprising:
a physical interface configured to interconnect a network and a web server;
a rapid storage mechanism configured to store web content frequently provided
by the web server in response to client requests; and
a network stack configured to provide the web content stored in the rapid storage
mechanism in response to a request sent to the web server.
35. The device of claim 34, wherein the network stack is further configured to
perform security-related operations and transmission control protocol processing
in fulfilling the request.
36. The device of claim 35, further comprising a component configured to send
high layer socket calls to the web server.
37. The device of claim 35, further comprising a component configured to provide
information related to fulfilling the request to the web server.
38. A system comprising:
a web server;
a remote storage mechanism operatively coupled with the web server, and
a network interface device comprising:
a physical interface configured to interconnect a network and the web server,
a rapid storage mechanism configured to store web content frequently provided
by the web server in response to client requests, and
a network stack configured to provide the web content stored in the rapid storage
mechanism in response to a request sent to the web server.
39. The system of claim 38, wherein the network stack is further configured to
perform security-related operations and transmission control protocol processing
in fulfilling the request.
40. The system of claim 39, further comprising a web content monitor and page
loader, and wherein the network interface device is configured to send high layer
socket calls to the web server.
41. The system of claim 39, wherein the network interface device is configured
to provide information related to fulfilling the request to the web server.
42. The system of claim 39, wherein the network interface device comprises a
network interface card.
Description
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to providing web services using an interface.
Referring to FIG. 1, a network configuration
100 illustrates an
example client/server network setup. In the network configuration
100, clients
102(
1)-
102(N) can each request information from a host computer
104 across a network
106. (N represents a whole number.) The client
102(
1), for example, may send a request across the network
106
for a particular set of web content available at the host computer
104,
for a multimedia exchange to be set up between the client
102(
1)
and the host computer
104, or for another exchange or set of web content.
The request arrives at the host computer
106 at a network interface card
(NIC)
108. From the NIC
108, the request can travel along an input/output
(I/O) bus
110 and through a network stack
112 to a web server
114
running web server software.
The web server
114 handles the request (including any necessary connection
setup and information retrieval) and, if necessary, reads information from a local
storage mechanism
116 such as a buffer or a data cache. The web server
114
may then return any content requested by the client
102(
1) to the
client
102(
1), with the content traveling through the network stack
112, the I/O bus
110, the NIC
108, and the network
106.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART) is a block diagram of a network configuration.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network configuration including a server enabled interface.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of responding to a request for web content.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of updating an interface.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a network configuration including a cache enabled interface.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process of responding to a request for web content.
DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIG. 2, a network configuration
200 shows an example
client/server network setup including a host computer
202 that includes
a web server
204 capable of offloading one or more web server operations
to an interface
206. A web content monitor and page loader
208 ("monitor
208") can transmit web content (static, new, and/or updated web content)
from a storage mechanism
210 accessible by the web server
204 to
an interface storage mechanism
212 included in or otherwise accessible by
the interface
206. In this way, the interface
206 can handle much
of the web content delivery to clients
214(
1)-
214(X) that
request web content from the host computer
202. (X represents a whole number.)
When one of the clients
214(
1)-
214(X) (generically referred
to as the client
214) sends a request for a connection setup and for web
content to the host computer
202 across one or more communication links
216(
1)-
216(Y) and a network
218, the interface
206
receives the request. (Y represents a whole number.) If the interface storage mechanism
212 includes the web content requested by the client
214, then the
interface
206 can independently respond to the request by setting up the
connection and by transmitting the web content to the client
214 without
any work by other elements included in the host computer
202, e.g., the
web server
204, the storage mechanism
210, etc. In responding to
the request, the interface
206 may use a network interface
222, a
network stack
224, and a proxy cache
226, each described further below.
If the interface storage mechanism
212 does not include the requested
web
content or the interface
206 can otherwise not handle the request for any
reason, then the interface
206 can forward the request to the web server
204 via a host input/output (I/O) bus
220.
Even if the interface
206 responds to the request, the interface
206
may notify other elements included in the host computer
202 of the request
and the interface's response to the request for logging, auditing, and/or other
purposes. For example, the interface
206 may notify the monitor
208
that a request was received and responded to so that the monitor
208 can
keep an accurate log of requests received by the host computer
202.
Thus, the web server
204 and/or other elements included in the host
computer
202 need not perform connection setup work as the network interface
206 can perform the connection setup work. In this way, the web server
204
and/or the other elements included in the host computer
202 can work on
more dynamic operations such as updating web content, possibly increasing the total
capacity of the web sever
204 and reducing response time of the host computer
202 to requests from the clients
214(
1)-
214(X).
In a general example, the client
214 may include a desktop computer, the
network
218 may include the Internet, and the host computer
202 may
include a server that hosts a web page. The client
214 may send a request
to connect to the host computer
202 via a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)
connection to request a particular set of web content (e.g., contents of a particular
web page). The interface
206 receives the request, sets up the connection
between the host computer
202 and the client
214, and checks the
interface storage mechanism
212 for the web content. If the interface storage
mechanism
212 includes the web content, then the interface
206 can
transmit the web content to the client
214 without the web server
204
having to perform any Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
processing, security processing, or web content delivery processing.
If, however, the interface storage mechanism
212 does not include the
web content, then the interface
206 can forward the request to the web server
204 which can handle the request. The web server
204 can query the
storage mechanism
210 for the web content and, if the web content is available
from the storage mechanism
210, transmit the web content to the client
214.
The web content may not be available at the storage mechanism
210 if, for
example, the client
214 requests outdated web content, the client
214
addresses its request to the incorrect host, the client
214 sends a malformed
request, and/or the storage mechanism
210 is unavailable.
Before further discussing offloading web server operations to the interface
206, the elements in the network configuration
200 are further described.
The elements in the network configuration
200 can be implemented in a
variety of ways. Information communicated between the clients
214(
1)-
214(X)
and the host computer
202 can include data, instructions, or a combination
of the two. The information may be in packets. Each sent packet may be part of
a packet stream, where each of the packets included in the packet stream fits together
to form a timewise contiguous stream of data. Information may be communicated between
endpoints via multicast, unicast, or some combination of both.
The clients
214(
1)-
214(X) can each include any mechanism
or device capable of communicating with the host computer
202 through the
network
218. Examples of the clients
214(
1)-
214(X)
include workstations, stationary personal computers, mobile personal computers,
servers, personal digital assistants, telephones, and other similar mechanisms
and devices. The clients
214(
1)-
214(X) in the network configuration
200 may differ from each other. Although multiple clients are shown in the
network configuration
200, there may be only one client that can access
the host computer
202 through the network
218.
The network
218 can include any kind and any combination of networks such
as an Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a private
network, a public network, or other similar network. Communications through the
network
218 may be secured with a mechanism such as IP security (IPsec),
Transport Layer Security/Secure Socket Layer (TLS/SSL), wireless TLS (WTLS), secure
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (S-HTTP), or other similar security mechanism. The
network stack
224 should be configured to handle information secured through
whatever security mechanism employed by the network
218. Otherwise, a request
sent by one of the clients
214(
1)-
214(X) might fail and go unfulfilled.
The network
218 may include a LAN set up as an Ethernet. Examples of an
Ethernet include a 10BaseT Ethernet, a Fast Ethernet, a Gigabit Ethernet, a ten
Gigabit Ethernet, and other similar faster and slower Ethernets. A 10BaseT Ethernet
generally refers to an Ethernet setup that transmits information at ten Megabits
per second (Mbps). A Fast Ethernet generally refers to an Ethernet setup using
a 100BaseT Ethernet, also called the Fast Ethernet standard (Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 802.3u, adopted 1995), that transmits
information at one hundred Mbps. A Gigabit Ethernet generally refers to an Ethernet
setup that transmits information at 1000 Mbps using IEEE standard 802.3z (adopted
1998). A ten Gigabit Ethernet generally refers to an Ethernet setup that transmits
information ten times as fast as a Gigabit Ethernet using IEEE standard 802.3ae
(first draft adopted 2000).
The web server
204 can include any device capable of communicating with
the network
218 such as a file server, an application server, a database
server, a mobile computer, a stationary computer, or other similar device.
The monitor
208 can include any device or mechanism capable of performing
administrative tasks such as monitoring web content updates, keeping track of the
frequency and/or number of requests received at the host computer
202, auditing
the host computer's performance, and performing other similar tasks. The monitor
208 may be set up or include as an application to perform such tasks.
The interface
206 can include any mechanism or device capable of providing
a connection between the web server
204 and the network
218. For
example, the interface
206 may include a NIC. An NIC generally refers to
a mechanism that provides a physical interface between a network (technically,
usually to a communication link to the network) and a server (technically, usually
to a bus leading to the server). The NIC may be capable of handling any number
of maximum bits, such as eight bits, sixteen bits, thirty-two bits, or any other
number of bits, as long as the NIC can handle the speed of the network
218,
which could equal or exceed one gigabit or even ten gigabits.
The host computer
202 can include any device capable of communicating
with the network
218. Examples of such devices include a mobile computer,
a stationary computer, a workstation, a server, a telephone, a pager, a personal
digital assistant, and other similar devices. The host computer
202 may
include any number of servers similar to the web server
204 and any additional
architecture needed to support the additional servers.
The storage mechanism
210 and the interface storage mechanism
212
can each include a storage mechanism such as a data queue, a buffer, a local or
remote memory device, random access memory (RAM), a cache, or other similar mechanism.
The mechanisms used for the storage mechanism
210 and the interface storage
mechanism
212 may differ from each other. Furthermore, the interface storage
mechanism
212 typically includes a rapid storage mechanism (e.g., RAM, Flash
Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (FEPROM or Flash memory), and other similar
mechanisms) that enables the proxy cache
226 to quickly and easily access
information stored at the interface storage mechanism
212.
The proxy cache
226 can include any device or mechanism capable of storing
(usually temporarily) web content As the interface storage mechanism
212
receives updates from the storage mechanism
212, the proxy cache
226
should also be able to update its stored web content.
The network stack
224 can include a protocol stack of protocols used in
network communications such as TCP/IP, TLS/SSL, those included in the Open System
Interconnection (OSI) model, and other similar protocols.
The network interface
222 can include any device or mechanism capable
of handling a request from the network
218 and forwarding to and/or translating
the request for other elements included in the interface
206.
The host I/O bus
220 can include a peripheral bus capable of carrying
communication between the web server
204 and the interface
206.
The communication links
216(
1)-
216(Y) can include any kind
and any combination of communication links such as modem links, Ethernet links,
cables, point-to-point links, infrared connections, fiber optic links, wireless
links, cellular links, Bluetooth, satellite links, and other similar links. Additionally,
each of the communication links
216(
1)-
216(Y) may include
one or more individual communication links.
Furthermore, the network configuration
200 is simplified for
ease of explanation. The network configuration
200 may include more or fewer
additional elements such as networks, communication links, proxy servers, hubs,
bridges, switches, routers, firewalls or other security mechanisms, Internet Service
Providers (ISPs), and other elements.
Referring to FIG. 3, a process
300 shows an example of offloading
work from the web server
204 to the interface
206. Although the process
300 is described with reference to the elements included in the network
configuration
200 of FIG. 2, this or a similar process may be performed
in another, similar network configuration.
In the process
300, the client
214 sends
302 a request to
the host computer
202. In this example, the request is for a connection
setup between the client
214 and the host computer
202 and for a
particular set of web content from the host computer
202. The request can,
however, be for a connection setup, for web content, for a connection setup and
for web content, or for other similar services and content.
The client
214 may send the request in response to a user of the client
214 entering a name or address into a browser running on the client
214.
The name or address may include a uniform resource indicator (URI), a uniform resource
locator (URL), a universal naming convention (UNC) address, or other similar name
or address.
The request traverses to the host computer
202 through one or more of
the communication links
216(
1)-
216(Y) and the network
218.
The host computer
202 receives
304 the request at the interface
206,
specifically, at the network interface
222.
The interface
206 may then set up
306 a connection between the
host computer
202 and the client
214. Setting up the connection may
include the interface
206, via the network stack
224, performing
TCP (or other protocol, as appropriate) connection operations, including checksum
operations. In this way, the web server
204 need not perform any connection
setup operations, instead offloading such operations to the interface
206.
Furthermore, with the interface
206 handling connection setup
operations, communications on the host I/O bus
220 between the web server
204 and the interface
206 may not involve transmission of TCP/IP
packets (or other protocol information, as appropriate). Rather, the interface
206 can send high layer socket calls (e.g., Berkeley Socket calls using
Berkeley UNIX, Windows Socket (Winsock) calls, transport level interface (TLI)
calls, and other types of similar calls) to the web server
204 on the host
I/O bus
220. In this way, the interface
206 can relieve the web server
204 from performing TCP/IP (or other protocol, as appropriate) processing.
The request may require security processing before the host computer
202
can respond to the client
214. The interface
206 may include one
or more cryptography or security processing capabilities, such as TLS/SSL, in the
network stack
224 that can so process the request. If the network stack
224 supports cryptography capabilities (and the request requires cryptography
processing), then the network stack
224 can perform
308 any necessary
cryptography operations. In this way, even if the interface
206 cannot provide
the client
214 with its requested web content, the interface
206
can relieve the web server
204 of performing any cryptography processing.
As cryptography processing can involve resource-intensive, time-consuming operations,
the interface's cryptography processing could significantly reduce the amount of
processing done by the web server
204.
If the network stack
224 does not support cryptography processing or after
the network stack
224 performs
224 any necessary cryptography operations,
the interface
206 determines
310 if the interface storage mechanism
212 and/or the proxy cache
226 includes the requested web content.
Depending on the outcome of this determination, either the interface
206
or the web server
204 provides the web content to the client
214.
The interface
206 may make this determination by consulting a mapping
table. The interface storage mechanism
212 may include the mapping table
or the mapping table may otherwise be accessible to the interface
206. The
mapping table can include correlations between names and addresses (e.g., URLs)
and web content. Each name and address may correspond to one set of web content
and/or multiple names and addresses may correlate with the same set of web content
to deal with different web configuration issues.
If the mapping table includes the name or address provided by the client
214,
then the interface
206 includes the requested web content and can respond
312 to the client's request. Otherwise, the interface
206 likely
does not include the requested web content or the most up-to-date version of the
requested web content, so the web server
204 handles
314 the request
for web content.
If the interface
206 responds to the client's request, then the interface
206 retrieves the requested web content from the interface storage mechanism
212 and/or the proxy cache
226 as appropriate. By storing web content
(including static web content) at the storage mechanism
212 and/or the proxy
cache
226, web content can be located closer to the interface
206
than if the web content is stored elsewhere, e.g., at the storage location
210.
Furthermore, storing web content at the interface storage mechanism
212,
can reduce the load on the storage mechanism
210. The interface
206
may also or instead retrieve a copy of the requested web content, a pointer to
the requested web content, or other information regarding the web content that
the interface
206 may send to the client
214 in response to the request.
Having retrieved the web content, the interface
206 can transmit the web
content to the client
214 via one or more of the communication links
216(
1)-
216(Y)
and the network
218.
With the interface
206 responding to the request rather than the web
server
204, bus traffic on the host I/O bus
220 between the interface
206 and the web server
204 may be reduced or eliminated because the
interface
206 may not need to communicate the client's request to the web
server
204 or receive web content via the host I/O bus
220 to return
to the client
214.
After responding to the request, the interface
206 may notify
316
the web server
204 with information regarding the request and/or work performed
by the interface
206. The interface
206 may also or instead provide
the web server
204 with such information as it becomes available rather
than waiting until after the interface
206 finishes responding to the request.
Additionally, the interface
206 may log
318 information regarding
the request and/or the work performed by the interface
206 in the interface
storage mechanism
212. The interface
206 may then subsequently transmit
the logged information to the web server
204 at a later time, e.g., after
the interface
206 logs a certain number or amount of information, after
a certain amount of time, etc., or the web server
204 can retrieve the logged information.
The information sent to the web server
204 can include data that the web
server
204 may forward to the monitor
208 that the monitor
208
can use in logging, auditing, or otherwise tracking requests sent to the host computer
202 and/or examining the processes performed by the interface
206
and/or the web server
204. Such data may include information regarding the
request such as the name or address used by the client
214 to contact the
host computer
202, the location of the client
214 (e.g., network
address), the time that the host computer
202 received the request, whether
the web server
204 or the interface
206 responded to the request,
and other similar types of information.
The monitor
208 can log
320 data sent from the interface
206
and/or the web server
204 and use the data in updating the web content included
in the interface storage mechanism
212. For example, if the monitor
208
determines that clients request a particular web page with a certain frequency
(e.g., a certain number of times in a certain number of seconds), then the monitor
208 may increase the frequency of updates for that web page sent to the
interface storage mechanism
212.
If the web server
204 knows about the processing performed by the interface
206, then the host computer
202 need not include the monitor
208
as shown in the network configuration
200. Rather, the web server
204
may include a monitoring mechanism similar to the monitor
208.
If the mapping table does not include the name or address provided by the client
214 or the interface
206 can otherwise not respond to the request
for any reason, then the web server
204 responds
322 to the request
instead of the interface
206. The web server
204 retrieves the requested
web content from the storage mechanism
210 or from its internal storage
and can transmit the web content to the client
214 via the interface
206,
one or more of the communication links
216(
1)-
216(Y), and
the network
218.
The web server
204 may send information regarding the request and/or the
work performed by the web server
204 to the monitor
208 which can
log
302 the log information as described above. The interface
206
may also send information regarding the request and/or the work performed by the
interface
206 to the monitor
208 even if the web server
204
responds to the request. For example, the interface
206 may hold responsibility
for informing the monitor
208 about the frequency of requests received by
the host computer
202.
Referring to FIG. 4, the monitor
208 may periodically send new and/or
updated web content to the interface
206 as shown in a monitoring process
400. The monitoring process
400 is described with reference to the
network configuration
200 of FIG. 2, but this or a similar process may be
performed in another, similar network configuration.
At regularly scheduled intervals or as necessary, the monitor
208 can
decide
402 to update the interface
206 with new and/or updated web content.
The monitor may make such a decision when the storage mechanism
210 receives
and stores new web content, after every "N" seconds (where N equals any positive
number), or upon occurrence of another similar event or events.
When the monitor
208 decides to send an update to the interface
206,
the monitor
208 can send
404 a web content update to the interface
206. The web content update may include new web content or revisions to
web content already stored at the interface
206 in the proxy cache
226
and/or the interface storage mechanism
212.
An application included in or otherwise accessible by the monitor
208
may
carry out the deciding and/or the sending. An application generally refers to one
or more programs, functions, and/or other similar instructions capable of processing
data and is typically implemented with software.
Furthermore, the monitor
208 may not be the mechanism that actually
transmits the web content update to the interface
206. Rather, the monitor
208 may trigger another mechanism, such as the storage mechanism
210,
to send or transfer the web content update to the interface
206.
Referring to FIG. 5, a second network configuration
500 shows another
example client/server network setup including a host computer
202 that includes
a web server
504 capable of offloading one or more web server operations
to an interface
506. The web server
504 and the interface
506
can each function and be implemented similar to like-named elements included in
the network configuration
200 (see FIG.
2). Similarly, the second
network configuration
500 also includes a storage mechanism
508,
an interface storage mechanism
510, clients
512(
1)-
512(Q)
(where Q represents whole number), communication links
514(
1)-
514(R)
(where R represents whole number), a network
516, a host I/O bus
518,
a network interface
520, a network stack
522, and a proxy cache
524
that can each function and be implemented as similarly-named elements in the network
configuration
2 (see FIG.
2). The second network configuration
500
also includes a host network stack
526 that can function as described below
and be implemented similar to the network stack
522 included in the interface
506.
In the second network configuration
500, the interface
506 can
act
as a web-cache enabled proxy. The web server
504 and the host network stack
526 do not have knowledge of the interface's ability to cache web content
in the proxy cache
524. Additionally, the storage location
508 need
not send data to the interface storage location
510.
Referring to FIG. 6, a second process
600 shows an example of offloading
work from the web server
504 to the interface
506. Although the second
process
600 is described with reference to the elements included in the
second network configuration
500 of FIG. 5, this or a similar process may
be performed in another, similar network configuration.
In the second process
600, one of the clients
512(
1)-
512(Q)
(generically referred to as the client
512) sends
602 a request to
the host computer
502 for a connection setup and for a particular set of
web content although the request could include more or less individual requests.
The host computer
502 receives
604 the request at the interface
506,
specifically, at the network interface
520.
The network interface
520 terminates
606 incoming TCP connections
(or connections under the appropriate protocol) and attempts
608 to respond
to the request. The request may require security processing before the host computer
502 can respond to the client
512. The network stack
522 can
perform any appropriate cryptography operations as described above with reference
to FIG.
3 and the network stack
224 (see FIG.
2). The network
stack
522 may perform such cryptography operations whether the interface
506 or the web server
504 responds to the request.
If the network interface
520 can respond to the request, then the network
interface
520 appropriately responds to the client
512. Generally,
the network interface
520 can respond to the request if the proxy cache
524 and/or the interface storage location
510 includes the requested
web content. The network interface
520 may determine if the interface
506
includes the requested web content by consulting a mapping table or performing
another similar check as described above with reference to FIG.
3.
If the network interface
520 can respond to the request, the interface
506 can log
610 information (e.g., in the interface storage mechanism
510) regarding the request and/or the work performed by the interface
206.
For example, the interface
520 may log information to keep track of what
web content the clients
512(
1)-
512(Q) most frequently request.
The interface
506 may store this most frequently requested web content in
a rapid storage mechanism so as to have it easily and quickly available for retrieval
and delivery to the clients
512(
1)-
512(Q).
If the network interface
520 cannot respond to the request for any reason,
then the network interface
520 generates
612 a request to the web
server
504 to fulfill the client's request. The network interface
520
may generate such a request by opening a TCP connection (or connection using another
protocol) with the web server
504 via the host network stack
526.
The network interface
520 may then send the request to the web server
504
via the host I/O bus
518 and the host network stack
526. The web
server
504 may then respond
614 to the request and, therefore, the
client's request.
The techniques described here are not limited to any particular hardware or software
configuration; they may find applicability in any computing or processing environment.
The techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of the
two. The techniques may be implemented in programs executing on programmable machines
such as mobile or stationary computers, personal digital assistants, and similar
devices that each include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor
(including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least
one input device, and one or more output devices. Program code is applied to data
entered using the input device to perform the functions described and to generate
output information. The output information is applied to one or more output devices.
Each program may be implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented
programming language to communicate with a machine system. However, the programs
can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the
language may be a compiled or interpreted language.
Each such program may be stored on a storage medium or device, e.g., compact
disc read only memory (CD-ROM), hard disk, magnetic diskette, or similar medium
or device, that is readable by a general or special purpose programmable machine
for configuring and operating the machine when the storage medium or device is
read by the computer to perform the procedures described in this document. The
system may also be considered to be implemented as a machine-readable storage medium,
configured with a program, where the storage medium so configured causes a machine
to operate in a specific and predefined manner.
Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.
*
