ISPPlanet Cache Review Series - CacheFlow 545

Predictive Caching:
CacheFlow 545

by Lisa Phifer VP Core Competence, Inc. [February 3, 2000]

As the caching market matures, products naturally evolve. In a market where release cycles are measured in months and today's hot new technologies are "old hat" next year, vendors must continually improve and innovate—or fade from existence. Those seeking something a bit novel may want to consider CacheFlow. From its custom operating system that speeds content delivery to its prefetch algorithm that ensures content freshness, CacheFlow pushes the envelope. In our fourth installment of this ISP-Planet series, we put the CacheFlow 545 to the test. This low/mid-range offering from CacheFlow is targeted for ISPs and enterprises requiring less than T3 bandwidth.

CacheFlow 545 $18,995 (as tested) CacheFlow Inc. Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086 http://www.cacheflow.com

The Platform
All CacheFlow products, from the entry-level 110 to top-of-the-line 5220, run CacheFlow's patent-pending CacheOS™. Traditional file systems are not particularly well-suited for caching: files are stored wherever free space exists, slowing as space is exhausted. CacheFlow designed its CacheOS for efficient operation when the disk is full: status quo for a web cache. The CacheOS hashes URLs to index and contiguously store related objects, thereby speeding web page retrieval. CacheFlow embeds the CacheOS on platforms created from off-the-shelf hardware components, scaled to meet a variety of markets.

We evaluated the CacheFlow 545 (list price $18,995), engineered for 10-15 Mbps incoming traffic with 768 MB RAM, 4 x 9 = 36 GB HDD, one 10/100 Ethernet, and a single power supply. The CacheFlow product line runs full spectrum. At the low end, the small ISP or remote POP CacheFlow 110 (list price $4,495) supports 1.5 Mbps with 128 MB RAM, 4 GB HDD, single Ethernet and power supply. The carrier-class CacheFlow 5070 (list price $79,995) can feed a full T3 from an 8U chassis with 2 GB RAM, 63 GB HDD, four Ethernets, and three hot-swappable power supplies. Both 3000 and 5000 series products are available with redundant power supplies and hot-swappable disks. An expansion shelf is available to crank the 5000 series up to OC3 capacity with 180 GB of disk storage.