The Cisco Cache Engine works with a router running Cisco IOS software with the Web Cache Control Protocol. The Web Cache Control Protocol redirects HTTP traffic (web traffic, or to be specific, traffic that uses TCP port 80) to a Cache Engine; the Cache Engine then manages the web request.Thus, the Cache Engine works in tandem with a router to handle web traffic. This traffic includes user requests to view pages and graphics on World Wide Web servers, whether internal or external to your network, and the replies to those requests. When a user requests a page from a web server, the router first sends the request to a Cache Engine. If the Cache Engine has a copy of the requested page in storage, the engine sends the user that page. Otherwise, the engine gets the requested page and the objects on that page from the web server, stores a copy of the page and its objects (caches them), and simultaneously forwards the page and objects on to the user. By caching web objects in this manner, the Cisco Cache Engine can speed the satisfaction of user requests if more than one user wants to access the same page. This also reduces the amount of traffic between your network and the Internet, potentially improving your overall network performance and reducing your bandwidth requirements.