The interface
When designing a distributed cache, one of the key decisions you’ll face is choosing the appropriate program interface for communication between clients and the cache servers. The main options available are the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and other specialized protocols. Each has its own set of advantages and trade-offs, and understanding these will help us make an informed decision. For our project, we’ll settle on HTTP as the interface of choice, but let’s explore why.
TCP
As we saw in previous chapters, TCP is a cornerstone of modern networking, but like any technology, it comes with its own set of trade-offs. On the one hand, TCP shines in its efficiency. Operating at a low level, it minimizes overhead, making it a lean and mean communication machine. This efficiency is often coupled with superior performance compared to higher-level protocols, especially in terms of latency and throughput, making...
