Pre-fetching data

• US 20150142928A1
• Filed: 01/06/2015
• Published: 05/21/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Fu, Xiao, Luo, Wen Gang, Zhu, Yi Sheng
• Granted Patent: US 9,350,826 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements

Abstract

A pre-fetching request is received by a server from a client. The pre-fetching request is performed to pre-fetch data from a data source connected to the server according to an indication of the pre-fetching request. The pre-fetched data is sent from the server to the client upon receiving an actual request for the pre-fetched data. As such, an integrated capability of a server and a client can be employed to perform data pre-fetch, to improve overall performance of the server and the client.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a server, a pre-fetching request from a client;

before executing the pre-fetching request, storing, by the server, the pre-fetching request within a pre-fetching request storage area of the server different from an actual request storage area of the server in which non-prefetching requests are stored;

after storing the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area, assigning, by the server, the pre-fetching request storage area a dynamic priority that changes over time based on a length of time that the pre-fetching request remains in the pre-fetching request storage area;

regardless of whether any non-prefetching requests are stored in the actual request storage area, at a point in time at which the dynamic priority of the prefetching request exceeds a priority threshold, removing, by the server, the pre-fetching request from the pre-fetching request storage area;

after removing the pre-fetching request from the pre-fetching request storage area, executing, by the server, the pre-fetching request to retrieve data indicated by the pre-fetching request; and

after executing the pre-fetching request, storing, by the server, the data that has been received for subsequent fulfillment of an actual request for the data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the server, the actual request for the data from the client; and

in response to receiving the actual request for the data, sending, by the server, the data as has been pre-fetched and stored, to the client.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after removing the pre-fetching request from the pre-fetching request storage area and before executing the pre-fetching request, determining, by the server, whether the pre-fetching request has expired based on an expiration time thereof;

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has expired, discarding, by the server, the pre-fetching request, such that the pre-fetching request is not executed; and

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has not expired, proceeding, by the server, to execute the pre-fetching request.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving, by the server, the pre-fetching request from the client comprises receiving, by the server, the pre-fetching request and the expiration time of the pre-fetching request from the client, such that the client specifies the expiration time.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

after receiving the pre-fetching request and before storing the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area, setting, by the server, the expiration time of the pre-fetching request, such that the server specifies the expiration time.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

after receiving the pre-fetching request and before storing the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area, determining, by the server, whether the client provided the expiration time of the pre-fetching request;

in response to determining that the client did not provide the expiration time, setting, by the server, the expiration time of the pre-fetching request, such that the server specifies the expiration time; and

in response to determining that the client did provide the expiration time, using, by the server, the expiration time of the pre-fetching request as provided by the client, such that the client specifies the expiration time.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

after receiving the pre-fetching request and before storing the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area, determining, by the server, whether the pre-fetching request has already expired;

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has already expired, discarding, by the server, the pre-fetching request, such that the pre-fetching request is not stored within the pre-fetching request storage area and is not executed; and

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has not already expired, proceeding, by the server, to store the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at the point in time at which the pre-fetching request is removed from the pre-fetching request storage area, at least one non-prefetching request is stored in the actual request storage area.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic priority of the pre-fetching request increases with the length of time that the pre-fetching request remains in the pre-fetching request storage area.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic priority of the pre-fetching request decreases with the length of time that the pre-fetching request remains in the pre-fetching request storage area.

11. A device comprising:

hardware, including a processor;

a server comprising a pre-fetch request storage area and an actual request storage area, non-prefetching requests stored in the actual request storage area;

a server communication module implement at least by the processor, to;

receive a pre-fetching request from a client;

before executing the pre-fetching request, store the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area;

after storing the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area, assign the pre-fetching request storage area a dynamic priority that changes over time based on a length of time that the pre-fetching request remains in the pre-fetching request storage area;

regardless of whether any non-prefetching requests are stored in the actual request storage area, at a point in time at which the dynamic priority of the prefetching request exceeds a priority threshold, remove the pre-fetching request from the pre-fetching request storage area;

after removing the pre-fetching request from the pre-fetching request storage area, execute the pre-fetching request to retrieve data indicated by the pre-fetching request; and

after executing the pre-fetching request, store the data that has been received for subsequent fulfillment of an actual request for the data.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the server communication module is further to:

receive the actual request for the data from the client; and

in response to receiving the actual request for the data, send the data as has been pre-fetched and stored, to the client.

13. The device of claim 11, wherein the server communication module is further to:

after removing the pre-fetching request from the pre-fetching request storage area and before executing the pre-fetching request, determine whether the pre-fetching request has expired based on an expiration time thereof;

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has expired, discard the pre-fetching request, such that the pre-fetching request is not executed; and

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has not expired, proceed to execute the pre-fetching request.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the server communication module is further to:

after receiving the pre-fetching request and before storing the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area, determine whether the client provided the expiration time of the pre-fetching request;

in response to determining that the client did not provide the expiration time, set the expiration time of the pre-fetching request, such that the server communication module specifies the expiration time; and

in response to determining that the client did provide the expiration time, use the expiration time of the pre-fetching request as provided by the client, such that the client specifies the expiration time.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the server communication module is further to:

after receiving the pre-fetching request and before storing the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area, determine whether the pre-fetching request has already expired;

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has already expired, discard the pre-fetching request, such that the pre-fetching request is not stored within the pre-fetching request storage area and is not executed; and

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has not already expired, proceed to store the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area.

16. The device of claim 11, wherein at the point in time at which the pre-fetching request is removed from the pre-fetching request storage area, at least one non-prefetching request is stored in the actual request storage area.

17. A storage device storing computer-readable code that when executed by a processor of a server causes the processor to perform processing that comprises:

receiving a pre-fetching request from a client;

before executing the pre-fetching request, storing the pre-fetching request within a pre-fetching request storage area of the server different from an actual request storage area of the server in which non-prefetching requests are stored;

after storing the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area, assigning the pre-fetching request storage area a dynamic priority that changes over time based on a length of time that the pre-fetching request remains in the pre-fetching request storage area;

regardless of whether any non-prefetching requests are stored in the actual request storage area, at a point in time at which the dynamic priority of the prefetching request exceeds a priority threshold, removing the pre-fetching request from the pre-fetching request storage area;

after removing the pre-fetching request from the pre-fetching request storage area, executing the pre-fetching request to retrieve data indicated by the pre-fetching request; and

after executing the pre-fetching request, storing the data that has been received for subsequent fulfillment of an actual request for the data.

18. The storage device of claim 17, wherein the processing further comprises:

receiving the actual request for the data from the client; and

in response to receiving the actual request for the data, sending the data as has been pre-fetched and stored, to the client.

19. The storage device of claim 17, wherein the processing further comprises:

after removing the pre-fetching request from the pre-fetching request storage area and before executing the pre-fetching request, determining whether the pre-fetching request has expired based on an expiration time thereof;

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has expired, discarding the pre-fetching request, such that the pre-fetching request is not executed; and

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has not expired, proceeding to execute the pre-fetching request.

20. The storage device of claim 19, wherein the processing further comprises:

after receiving the pre-fetching request and before storing the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area, determining, by the server, whether the pre-fetching request has already expired;

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has already expired, discarding, by the server, the pre-fetching request, such that the pre-fetching request is not stored within the pre-fetching request storage area and is not executed; and

in response to determining that the pre-fetching request has not already expired, proceeding, by the server, to store the pre-fetching request within the pre-fetching request storage area.