A client-based computer system configured to communicate with a remote server through a network and to provide access to content or services provided by the server is provided. The system includes a processor, a storage device, a client-side cache dedicated to a set of resources specified by a configuration, and a caching manager to automatically manage the cache as directed by the configuration. The client-side cache is directed by the configuration to transparently intercept a request for one of the resources from a client application to the server, and to automatically determine when to send the request to and provide a response from the server over the network to appear to the client application as though the client application sent the request to and received the response from the server.