System, method, and program for balancing cache space requirements with retrieval access time for large documents on the internet

TLDR: In this article, the caching agent starts transferring this partial file to the client while it is simultaneously retrieving the remaining portion of the file across the Internet, thereby creating a safety margin in storing more than one page.

Abstract: A system, method and program stores, in a local cache, only a small part of a large file that is being requested over a network such as the Internet. In a preferred embodiment, the caching agent starts transferring this partial file to the client while it is simultaneously retrieving the remaining portion of the file across the Internet. A preferred embodiment of the invention stores a first page of the browser display in the cache. Other embodiments store more than the first page, or a part of the full file or document, thereby creating a safety margin in storing more than one page. Another preferred embodiment initially stores the full file or document, and if there is a need for cache replacement, the cache is replaced up until the first page is reached. As such, the cache space requirements are minimized for large documents being retrieved over the World Wide Web.