Browser Caching Tip on ROHAN

When changes are made to websites on ROHAN, it can take an hour for the modifications to show up on a refresh of the browser page. The reason is caching.

ROHAN sets expiration flags so HTML pages are cached 1 hour, and images for 1 week by the browser viewing the page. ROHAN's web server also keeps an internal memory cache of frequently served static objects. The server cache is refreshed every hour.

You can force the cache (both browser and web server) to update immediately by clicking reload in Firefox. Some browsers don't update cached items unless the SHIFT key is held down while clicking reload. NOTE: IE version 8 only refreshes it's cache if you hold down the CTRL key and click reload. SHIFT reload does not refresh in IE version 8.

ROHAN Streaming Media Server News

The planned move of Streaming Media services from the ROHAN server to the EOMER server for Spring 2010 semester use was announced at the September MWSSLS meeting. This change will happen one week prior to the Spring 2010 semester. The move solves the QuickTime streaming issues for off-campus users. The upload of files remains with ROHAN, as EOMER will just handle the serving of files.

Major change on www-rohan.sdsu.edu

After two months of working on the fine-tuning, Ron Nash switched the ROHAN web services over to a modified proxy server option for static content on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. Using Apache 2.13, www-rohan.sdsu.edu now has a lightweight and a heavyweight side to its web serving. The heavyweight side handles the more complicated php requests, while the lightweight side serves up the shorter text-based requests. This division of labor allows the text-based requests to be served approximately 10 times faster. The default refresh on content is set at one hour, while images are set at one week for their refresh. Kudos to Ron for the service improvement.