Architecture and development of distributed WWW caching proxy

In order to alleviate heavy network overloads and slow network response, peer group, a new kind of distributed WWW caching proxy, is presented. Each caching proxy is a peer in the group and stores local data and maintains the cache index. Required data stored in local or remote proxy is accessible through the indexes. When peer proxies exchange cache information, only indexes are included, thus alleviating traffic overload. The peer group algorithm keeps track of any changes in the group by periodically broadcasting the cache. Therefore, the WWW distributed caching proxy is able to automatically update cache information, share cache indexes with other peers and alleviate slow convergence and inconsistency among peers and traffic overloads.