Websense Content Gateway can participate in HTTP cache hierarchies, in which requests not fulfilled in one cache can be routed to other regional caches, taking advantage of the contents and proximity of nearby caches.

A cache hierarchy consists of levels of caches that communicate with each other. Content Gateway supports several types of cache hierarchies. All cache hierarchies recognize the concept of parent and child. A parent cache is a cache higher up in the hierarchy, to which the proxy can forward requests. A child cache is a cache for which the proxy is a parent.