Mark,

I think this is a great idea. I have been advocating for the use of semi-static content for a while. The first time I toyed with this idea and even used it to some extent was back in 1999 at an online retailer that we both know well! It is merely a form of long-standing cache.

Synchronization can still cause issues, and the fact that we are introducing another layer of indirection. We also have to realize that 'some' content needs to remain dynamic. For instance, we allow our clients to specify some sidebar ads targeting different pages (ie: the ski pass discount ad goes on the recreation/activity pages, and the bed and breakfast ad goes on the vacation planner page). This can be handled in a couple of different ways... Donut caching/partial page caching using a longer duration cached or static component and server side logic (yuck) or javascript (yes we use it quite a bit with the concept of a 'base page' that is rendered immediately without javascript with all the trimmings filled in later).

We sort of talked about the problems we have building CMS-backed sites that these approaches can solve a while back. Our custom 'mid tier' runs on Lucene and is a very fast cache, but not completely static.

Have you experimented with static content very much?