Question:
What is the legal definition of the "Internet" term, cached?
elder
2010-11-13 11:45:05 UTC
When browsing potential web sites, the term cached appears What does that mean?
Three answers:
Mr.Peabody
2010-11-13 12:20:02 UTC
You asked for the "legal" definition. According to Webopedia (link provided below):

"Pronounced cash, a special high-speed storage mechanism. It can be either a reserved section of main memory or an independent high-speed storage device. Two types of caching are commonly used in personal computers: memory caching and disk caching.



A memory cache, sometimes called a cache store or RAM cache, is a portion of memory made of high-speed static RAM (SRAM) instead of the slower and cheaper dynamic RAM (DRAM) used for main memory. Memory caching is effective because most programs access the same data or instructions over and over. By keeping as much of this information as possible in SRAM, the computer avoids accessing the slower DRAM.



Some memory caches are built into the architecture of microprocessors. The Intel 80486 microprocessor, for example, contains an 8K memory cache, and the Pentium has a 16K cache. Such internal caches are often called Level 1 (L1) caches. Most modern PCs also come with external cache memory, called Level 2 (L2) caches. These caches sit between the CPU and the DRAM. Like L1 caches, L2 caches are composed of SRAM but they are much larger.



Disk caching works under the same principle as memory caching, but instead of using high-speed SRAM, a disk cache uses conventional main memory. The most recently accessed data from the disk (as well as adjacent sectors) is stored in a memory buffer. When a program needs to access data from the disk, it first checks the disk cache to see if the data is there. Disk caching can dramatically improve the performance of applications, because accessing a byte of data in RAM can be thousands of times faster than accessing a byte on a hard disk.



When data is found in the cache, it is called a cache hit, and the effectiveness of a cache is judged by its hit rate. Many cache systems use a technique known as smart caching, in which the system can recognize certain types of frequently used data. The strategies for determining which information should be kept in the cache constitute some of the more interesting problems in computer science."



Hope this helps!
anonymous
2010-11-14 11:39:40 UTC
Since the internet operates worldwide, within many different legal systems and, in a way, outside of all, no single legal definition could be applied to a technical term such as 'cached'.
Roger
2010-11-13 19:49:59 UTC
Cached on the internet refers to one website has different sections. For example, Yahoo.com is cached for email, Yahoo answers, Yahoo games, Yahoo finance, etc.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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