- From: Daniel Hellerstein <danielh@mailbox.econ.ag.gov>
- Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:25:56 -0400
- To: http-wg@cuckoo.hpl.hp.com
Yesterday I inquired about how an origin server may inform downstream caches (say, on proxy servers) that a given response may change suddenly -- implying that a cache may store the content, but should always revalidate before using. >From the responses I've recieved (thanks Jeff), it appears that a cache-control: max-age=0,must-revalidate or cache-control: nocache can have this effect. However, this is subject to implementation, with perhaps the latter hinting that "it's not worth storing this response". My question is to current or potential authors of proxy servers (or other caches).: Should a conscientious web server use a particular response to hint that a) this is subject to change -- so store it but always revalidate as opposed to b) don't bother storing this -- it's request specific? For example, would a max-age=1,must-revalidate be a reasonable way of signaling this (with a tiny chance of sending a no longer valid stored response)? Or should origin servers not worry -- let the caches manage their disk space as they see fit?
Received on Tuesday, 5 May 1998 14:30:22 UTC