Citrix Systems, Inc.
Read caching with early refresh for eventually-consistent data store

Abstract:

A technique for managing a read cache in an eventually-consistent data store includes, in response to a read request for a specified data element, receiving the specified data element from the read cache as well as a remaining TTL (time to live) of the data element, as indicated by a timer for that data element in the read cache. If the remaining TTL falls below a predetermined value, the technique triggers an early refresh of the specified data element, prior to its expiration. Consequently, later-arriving read requests to the same data element that arrive before the data element has been refreshed experience cache hits, thus avoiding the need to perform their own time-consuming refresh operations.