Refresh + cache problems = Blue Coat Systems?

[phildu]

After spending number of hours looking for solutions to our recurring cache/refresh page problem we had with PS1.4, which is now getting even worse with PS1.5, I decided to explain our problem on this forum, speak about the reasons why it is happening and look for some answers from the community.

 

The problem:

Pages don't refresh and keep showing the cache during a certain period of time.

For example: I am on home page I go to login, then once logged in, if I go back to home page, it shows me the same page as before I logged in... a simple F5 does the job and clears the cache. But every time I will go back and forth to my home page I will have to F5.

Same happens with the authentication, my account page etc...

With PS1.4 we had found some ways around the problem, but with 1.5 even the back office is affected by this cache refresh problem, which drives everyone crazy in my office!

 

The reason:

After spending so much time trying to resolve this issue, we finally realized this problem was only happening when using True Online the largest isp in Thailand.

Using other isp such as csloxinfo , 3bb or even 3g network on tablet & mobile devices, we found out there is absolutely no problem with the cache/refresh issue anymore.

So after a few phone call with True Online and some research on internet, we found out that True Online and Blue Coat signed a contract early in 2011 and this is when our problem started.

 

Quick note about Blue Coat Systems:

Blue Coat Systems, Inc. a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions.

Blue Coat® CacheFlow® 5000 appliances help reduce costly international bandwidth consumption, as well as to improve end-user Web experience especially for the delivery of rich Web 2.0 and video content. The CacheFlow appliance is a dedicated carrier-grade caching solution designed to help service providers better contain costs and improve the quality of experience for their subscribers.

http://www.bluecoat....sts-and-improve

 

Solutions?:

I don't think we are the only user of prestashop in the world facing this situation, other ISP's have signed deals with Blue Coat and are or will face this issue.

- Is there any way around this problem?

- Does anyone experienced this issue?

- Does my assumption that Blue Coat is the problem make sense?

 

BTW. We understand the smarty, force compile and cache in bo, the browser clean cache and cookies etc.. which have nothing to do with this problem; for sure!

 

Thank you in advance for any feedback

Philippe

[clayton29657]

Hello phildu,

 

May I ask what web browser are you using? If you're by chance using Chrome 22 then there's your problem as many many people are having the same sort of issues using this browser. If you go into google forums then you will see with web pages freezing up and carring over like you've stated. I have had the same issues but if I use firefox these issues go away. At 1st I thought it was the site but then noticed nothing was wrong so I started to check other browser and that was my issue.

 

I thought I would at least ask you this just in case this may be your problem and not the software.

 

Cheers

Clayton

[phildu]

Thank you Clayton for your answer, but we are testing our websites using multiple browsers... installed on mac , pc or tablet.

The worst part is that when we change browser it shows the cache generated by another browser, It's really amazing !

 

But if we switch from one isp (true online) to another one then it's fine, no more problem!

[Trip]

Hi phildu, I have the exact same problems. I remember that this already happened after the 1.4.X upgrade. We used TOR for some time (which is really slow) but after weeks or months I guess the problem disappeared. My wrong conclusion was it the past, that I thought it might be the proxy in my condo. Now I think it is blue coat. VPN and TOR connections have no problems but as I said. TOR is really slow and to setup a vpn is a little problematic as my employees technical skills are limited.

Did you find an easy solution? I mean the idea behing blue coat hat advantages but that pages are not refreshing without CTRL F5 is a more than annoying side effect. I misinterpreted that as a failed upgrade 1 or 2 times.

Any input is welcomed. Best regards, trip

[Trip]

Update, I think the least painless solution is access the BO via SSL eg. https. Even a self signed certificate would be enough to encrypt the connection and therefore make it uncacheable.

Best regards, trip