The IRCache project began in late 1995 under the auspices of NLANR, UCSD, and the National Science Foundation. In 2000, funding for the project neared its end, and staff members left UCSD's employment. However, many aspects of the project remain in operation today.

These pages describe the operational IRCache system, consisting of approximately ten caching proxies located throughout the United States.

The IRCache project has four primary goals:

• To provide operational hierarchical caching services for organizations and individuals.
• To function as a testbed for deploying new versions of the Squid Caching Software.
• To provide relatively large amounts of trace logfile data to researchers and other organizations.
• To promote web caching through advocacy and other involvement in the Internet community.

Some of the other IRCache activities have their own web sites:

• Web Polygraph
• Benchmarking Cache-offs
• 1997 and 1999 Caching Workshops

IRCache currently receives financial and other support from The Measurement Factory, Inc. and Packet Pushers.