On the sensitivity of Web proxy cache performance to workload characteristics

This paper describes the design and use of a synthetic Web proxy workload generator (ProWGen) to investigate the sensitivity of proxy cache replacement policies to selected Web workload characteristics. Trace-driven simulations with synthetic workloads from ProWGen show the relative sensitivity of three popular cache replacement algorithms-LRU, LFU-aging and GD-size-to Zipf slope, temporal locality, and correlation (if any) between file size and popularity, and the relative insensitivity of these algorithms to one-timers and heavy tail index. Performance differences between the three policies are also highlighted.