Microsoft Application Request Routing (ARR) Version 2 RC for IIS7 has been released.

Microsoft Application Request Routing (ARR) Version 2 RC for IIS7 has been released.

Overview:
Application Request Routing v2.0 RC is an incremental release that includes all the features from version 1.0, and adds support for disk based cache. ARR v2.0 RC comes with Go Live rights and is licensed to be deployed in production environments.

ARR v2.0 RC can be used to:
• Enhance ARR v1.0 scenarios with disk cache.
• Use ARR as an edge cache CDN/ECN environments.

Download ARRv2 RC from:
• Microsoft Application Request Routing Version 2 RC for IIS 7.0 (x86) here.
• Microsoft Application Request Routing Version 2 RC for IIS 7.0 (x64) here.

Feature list:
• Disk-based caching
In addition to the kernel memory cache in ARR Version 1, Version 2 adds support for disk-based cache, including support for a secondary network-based drive.

• Cache hierarchy management
Define and manage relationships between cache nodes, including support for the Cache Array Routing Protocol (CARP).

• Cache proxy node in CDN/ECN environment
Because ARR is a proxy-based HTTP request routing module with support for disk cache and CARP, ARR can be used as a cache proxy in a CDN/ECN environment.

• Caching compressed objects (Improved in RC)
Disk-based cache stores compressed objects so that the objects do not have to be compressed in real time for every request. In RC, ARR will gzip compress objects even if the content server does not respond with gzip content-encoding.

• Browsing cached contents using IIS Manager (Improved in RC)
Browse through cached contents across multiple drives in one consolidated graphical view in IIS Manager. In RC, the performance enhancements in the UI (inetmgr) allows browsing of cached directories and files more quickly. It also includes improvements to usability.

• Removing cached contents
Delete cached contents by matching URL patterns.

• Overriding cache-control directives
Manually override the cache-control directives in the response header to change the cache behavior.

• Warming up cache node (Improved in RC)
Proactively warm up your cache node with contents that will be in demand before they are requested. In RC, the contents can be pre-cached selectively only at the parent cache tier.

• Intelligent byte-range support
ARR converts the byte-range request into manageable segments to increase cache hit/miss ratio without sacrificing response time.

• Intelligent live request support
ARR is designed to work with Live Smooth Streaming to support live content requests without over-loading the live streaming server.

• Caching while serving response
Caching large content, such as a movie clip, may take some time. ARR Version 2 Beta 2 is capable of caching the content while serving the response immediately.

Support:
Support for the RC release is available only on the forum.