NeTS: Small: Design, Management, and Optimization of Cache Networks

当前的互联网支持从在线银行和商务到消息传递和电话会议，以及从游戏到电影传送的各种各样的服务。 尽管有这种多样性，但通过互联网传输的大部分数据都对应于“内容”，特别是视频内容。 此外，通过互联网传输的内容数量呈指数级增长，每三年翻一番。 这给网络和内容提供商基础设施带来了巨大的负担。 这刺激了许多创新，使存储和处理能力位于终端用户和内容消费者附近。 当用户请求内容时，比如说视频，请求会转到附近的缓存（与服务器耦合的存储设施）以获取它。如果内容存在于该高速缓存中，则立即提供;否则，请求被传递给内容提供商，内容提供商再将内容提供给用户。 这样的系统的优点是当在该高速缓存中找到内容时，减少了用户的等待时间，并且减少了网络和提供商资源的消耗。 然而，这提出了重大挑战，这是该项目的重点。 这些问题包括：应该如何在内容的各个对象的级别上管理缓存，即，个别电影，以及不同的内容提供商之间？ 在内容或提供者之间是否应该有服务区分，如果是，应该如何实现？ 提供缓存服务的第三方应该如何为这些服务定价？本项目所关注的是回答这些问题。本项目解决上述问题的方法将结合联合收割机技术和两个领域的结果。 第一个是生存时间（TTL）缓存，第二个是效用最大化。以此为基础，该项目有三个重点。1.管理和提供差异化服务。该项目将根据TTL缓存和效用最大化的最新结果开发一个框架，以提供差异化的缓存服务。 该框架将用于设计定时器驱动的缓存管理机制，以提供按内容区分的服务。它还将侧重于开发每个内容提供商的机制，这将使提供商能够灵活地使用他们选择的缓存管理机制。该项目将集中在两个单独的缓存以及缓存的集合。2.为缓存服务定价。上述工作的结果将用于设计和评估每个内容和每个提供商的定价机制。3.缓存网络的建模与分析。该项目将开发用于评估任意缓存网络的性能的技术和算法，这些缓存网络可以解释各种缓存管理算法。更广泛的影响：该项目将开发新的资源分配算法和资源定价机制，并应用于以内容为中心的网络。 该项目还将使人们更好地了解如何设计基于内容的大型系统，这将提高典型互联网用户的体验质量。该项目的教育活动将加强本科和研究生教育，帮助培养能够使用定量方法进行设计，分析和比较竞争工程设计的劳动力。

The current Internet supports a wide variety of services ranging from on-line banking and commerce to messaging and teleconferencing, and from gaming to delivery of movies. In spite of this variety, much of the data transported across the Internet corresponds to 'content' and in particular video content. Moreover, the amount of content traveling over the Internet is growing exponentially, doubling every three years. This places a tremendous burden on network and content provider infrastructures. This has stimulated a number of innovations whereby storage and processing capacity is located near the end user and content consumer. When a user requests content, say a video, the request goes to a nearby cache (storage facility coupled with server) to fetch it. If the content is present in the cache, it is immediately served; otherwise the request is passed on to the content provider, who in turn serves the content to the user. The advantages of such a system are reduced latencies to the user and decreased consumption of network and provider resources when the content is found in the cache. However, this raises substantial challenges that are the focus of this project. These include: how should the caches be managed both at the level of individual objects of content, i.e., individual movies, and among different content providers? Should there be service differentiation between contents or providers and if so, how should this be accomplished? How should third parties providing caching services price these services? The project is concerned with answering these questions.The approach of this project for addressing the questions listed above will combine techniques and results from two areas. The first is time-to-live (TTL) caches and the second is utility maximization. Using these as a foundation, the project has three thrusts. 1. Management and provision of differentiated services. The project will develop a framework based on recent results on TTL caches and utility maximization, for the provision of differentiated cache services. This framework will be used to design timer-driven cache management mechanisms for providing per content differentiated services. It will also focus on the development of per content provider mechanisms, which will allow providers the flexibility of using cache management mechanism of their choice. The project will focus on both individual caches as well as collections of caches.2. Pricing cache services. Results from the above effort will be used to design and evaluate per content and per provider pricing mechanisms. 3. Modeling and analysis of cache networks. The project will develop techniques and algorithms for evaluating the performance of arbitrary cache networks that account for a wide range of cache management algorithms.Broader Impacts: This project will develop new resource allocation algorithms and resource pricing mechanisms with applications to content-centric networks. The project will also develop a better understanding of how to engineer large content-based systems, which will enhance the quality of experience of the typical Internet user. Educational activities for this project will enhance undergraduate, and graduate education aiding in the training of a workforce able to use quantitative methods for the purpose of designing, analyzing, and comparing competing engineering designs.