Dropbox, Inc.

Adrian Ziegler-Millard

Neil Burke

Michael Coopersmith

Panashe Fundira

The present technology is a cache that provides an implied guarantee that data returned in response to a query is current. The cache uses two techniques together to guarantee that data returned in response to a query from the cache is current. The first technique is a guaranteed clock value. The is a clock value for which all changes that have occurred before it have been written to the authoritative database. Any query having a clock value greater than the guaranteed clock value is invalid. The second technique is a data invalidation technique, where the cache repeatedly polls the authoritative database for information about changes and invalidates objects associated with changes. If no change has happened, the cache can confidently conclude it is up to date since the cache knows that it is aware of all changes as of the guaranteed clock value.

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Kitchener, Canada

Adrian Ziegler-Millard