1. A method for processing requests comprising: receiving, from a user interface of a client at a server and using a processor, a request to apply a first update that updates a primary copy of first data stored on the server, a cached copy of the first data additionally being stored in a cache of the server, wherein the user interface of the client is a graphical user interface or a command line interface; determining, using a processor, a quality of service for the request based on the request, the client, and one or more prior requests, said quality of service varying with an urgency of the client to have the cached copy of the first data reflect the first update, the quality of service varying in accordance with whether the user interface is the graphical user interface or the command line interface, wherein, when the user interface is the graphical user interface, the quality of service denotes a higher level of urgency and higher quality of service level than when the user interface is the command line interface; performing, using a processor, periodic cache update processing that, at each occurrence of a time interval, updates cached copies of data stored in the cache of the server using corresponding primary copies of data from the server; responsive to said receiving, applying, using a processor, the first update to the primary copy of the first data stored on non-volatile storage of the server; and determining, using a processor and in accordance with the quality of service, whether to perform an additional update to the cache to apply the first update to the cached copy of the first data stored in the cache of the server, wherein said additional update is an out of band cache update operation performed in addition to cache updating performed by said periodic cache update processing.