diff --git a/htroot/CacheAdmin_p.java b/htroot/CacheAdmin_p.java
index 6bfb66834..526a104c7 100644
--- a/htroot/CacheAdmin_p.java
+++ b/htroot/CacheAdmin_p.java
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ import de.anomic.htmlFilter.htmlFilterContentScraper;
 import de.anomic.htmlFilter.htmlFilterWriter;
 import de.anomic.http.httpHeader;
 import de.anomic.net.URL;
-import de.anomic.plasma.plasmaHTCache;
 import de.anomic.plasma.plasmaParserDocument;
 import de.anomic.plasma.plasmaSwitchboard;
 import de.anomic.plasma.cache.IResourceInfo;
diff --git a/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaHTCache.java b/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaHTCache.java
index f3c640725..df9c4c042 100644
--- a/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaHTCache.java
+++ b/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaHTCache.java
@@ -103,17 +103,19 @@ public final class plasmaHTCache {
     public final File cachePath;
     public final serverLog log;
     public static final HashSet filesInUse = new HashSet(); // can we delete this file
-    public final boolean useTreeStorage;
+    public String cacheLayout;
+    public boolean cacheMigration;
 
     private ResourceInfoFactory objFactory;
     private serverThread cacheScanThread;
 
-    public plasmaHTCache(File htCachePath, long maxCacheSize, int bufferkb, long preloadTime, boolean useTreeStorage) {
+    public plasmaHTCache(File htCachePath, long maxCacheSize, int bufferkb, long preloadTime, String cacheLayout, boolean cacheMigration) {
         // this.switchboard = switchboard;
 
         this.log = new serverLog("HTCACHE");
         this.cachePath = htCachePath;
-        this.useTreeStorage = useTreeStorage;
+        this.cacheLayout = cacheLayout;
+        this.cacheMigration = cacheMigration;
         
         // create the object factory
         this.objFactory = new ResourceInfoFactory();
@@ -661,23 +663,41 @@ public final class plasmaHTCache {
         if (port >= 0) {
             fileName.append('!').append(port);
         }
-        File FileTree = new File(this.cachePath, fileName.toString() + path);
+
+        // generate cache path according to storage method
+        if (cacheLayout.equals("tree")) {
+            File FileTree = treeFile(fileName, path);
+            if (cacheMigration) {
+                moveCachedObject(hashFile(fileName, extention, url), FileTree);
+            }
+            return FileTree;
+        }
+        if (cacheLayout.equals("hash")) {
+            File FileFlat = hashFile(fileName, extention, url);
+            if (cacheMigration) {
+                moveCachedObject(treeFile(fileName, path), FileFlat);
+            }
+            return FileFlat;
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    private File treeFile(StringBuffer fileName, String path) {
+        return new File(this.cachePath, fileName.toString() + path);
+    }
+    
+    private File hashFile(StringBuffer fileName, String extention, URL url) {
         String urlHash = indexURL.urlHash(url);
         String hexHash = serverCodings.encodeHex(kelondroBase64Order.enhancedCoder.decode(urlHash));
-        fileName.append('/').append(hexHash.substring(0,2)).append('/').append(hexHash.substring(2,4)).append('/').append(hexHash);
+        StringBuffer f = new StringBuffer(18);
+        f.append('/').append(hexHash.substring(0,2)).append('/').append(hexHash.substring(2,4)).append('/').append(hexHash);
         if (extention != null) {
             fileName.append(extention);
         }
-        File FileFlat = new File(this.cachePath, fileName.toString());
-        if (useTreeStorage) {
-            moveCachedObject(FileFlat, FileTree);
-            return FileTree;
-        } else {
-            moveCachedObject(FileTree, FileFlat);
-            return FileFlat;
-        }
+        return new File(this.cachePath, fileName.toString() + f);
     }
-
+    
+    
     /**
      * This is a helper funktion that extracts the Hash from the filename
      */
@@ -922,7 +942,7 @@ public final class plasmaHTCache {
     private String                   name;           // the name of the link, read as anchor from an <a>-tag
     private String                   nomalizedURLHash;
     private String                   nomalizedURLString;
-    private int                      status;         // cache load/hit/stale etc status
+    //private int                      status;         // cache load/hit/stale etc status
     private Date                     lastModified;
     private char                     doctype;
     private String                   language;
@@ -1013,6 +1033,14 @@ public final class plasmaHTCache {
         return this.nomalizedURLHash;
     }
     
+    public Date lastModified() {
+        return this.lastModified;
+    }
+    
+    public String language() {
+        return this.language;
+    }
+    
     public plasmaCrawlProfile.entry profile() {
         return this.profile;
     }
diff --git a/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaSwitchboard.java b/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaSwitchboard.java
index fa9b9005d..e64c00f61 100644
--- a/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaSwitchboard.java
+++ b/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaSwitchboard.java
@@ -449,8 +449,9 @@ public final class plasmaSwitchboard extends serverAbstractSwitch implements ser
         }
         this.log.logInfo("HTCACHE Path = " + htCachePath.getAbsolutePath());
         long maxCacheSize = 1024 * 1024 * Long.parseLong(getConfig("proxyCacheSize", "2")); // this is megabyte
-        boolean useTreeStorage = getConfigBool("proxyCacheTree", true);
-        this.cacheManager = new plasmaHTCache(htCachePath, maxCacheSize, ramHTTP, ramHTTP_time, useTreeStorage);
+        String cacheLayout = getConfig("proxyCacheLayout", "tree");
+        boolean cacheMigration = getConfigBool("proxyCacheMigration", true);
+        this.cacheManager = new plasmaHTCache(htCachePath, maxCacheSize, ramHTTP, ramHTTP_time, cacheLayout, cacheMigration);
         
         // make parser
         log.logConfig("Starting Parser");
diff --git a/yacy.init b/yacy.init
index a0d9ebdf9..6033bb0ba 100644
--- a/yacy.init
+++ b/yacy.init
@@ -145,19 +145,11 @@ messConfig = httpd.messages
 # to enable that function, set proxy=true
 proxy=true
 
-# a path to the proxy's file cache.
+# a path to the file cache, used for the internal proxy and as crawl buffer
 # This will be used if the server is addressed as a proxy
 proxyCache = DATA/HTCACHE
 
-# the proxy's maximum disc cache size in megabytes
-# there should be enough space for the browsing load of an internet caffee
-# running at 56kbit/s modem speed (this time not unusual)
-# during 3 days, 8 hours a day
-# necessary space = 3 * 8 * 60 * 60 * 56 / 8 = 604800 KB = ca. 590 MB
-# since 600 MB is not much these days (it's below one GB!)
-# we recommend using that space
-#proxyCacheSize = 600
-#for testing:
+# the maximum disc cache size for files in proxyCache in megabytes
 proxyCacheSize = 200
 
 # use the mostly direct mapping of URLs to Filenames
@@ -173,7 +165,12 @@ proxyCacheSize = 200
 # files that are present under the previously used layout will be renamed
 # to the new location and thus be accessible immediately. so an accumulated
 # cache is still usable after the switch.
-proxyCacheTree = true
+# possible values are {tree, hash}
+proxyCacheLayout = tree
+
+# the migration flag shows, if the different layout shall be migrated from one to another
+proxyCacheMigration = true
+
 
 # the following mime-types are the whitelist for indexing
 #