This paper presents a performance analysis of request distribution-aware caching in cluster-based Web servers. We use the Zipf-like request distribution curve to guide static Web document caching. A combination of cooperative caching and exclusive caching provides for a clusterwide caching system that avoids document replication accross the cluster. We explore the benefits of cooperative caching algorithms that use request distribution information to steer their behavior over general purpose

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... perative caching algorithms. Exclusive caching exercises a fine-grained control over replication of data blocks across the cluster. The performance of the system has been assessed by using the WebStone benchmark. Our clusterbased server employs Linux kernel-level implementations of cooperative caching and exclusive caching. Current results show that request distribution-aware caching outperforms general-purpose caching algorithms, makes up for the performance loss of non-replicated data solutions and compares favorably to fully-replicated solutions.