Deciding What to Cache
Warp Solutions technology is inherently reactive; it decides what to cache, in part, based upon what it sees as it functions. The process is automatic. Such reactivity is necessary, certainly, but it is not sufficient. Organizations must also be able to direct the operation of the cache proactively.
Implicit Caching
Proactive caching decisions can be made either implicitly or explicitly. Implicit caching decisions are indirect. That is, they do not involve specific instructions to the cache, but rather involve attempts to modify the persistence, poplularity, or poplation associated with the data, in order to increase the likelihood that the data will be requested. Moving a press release that’s just been written to the home page of your web site is an implicit caching decision. Exchanging a native URL text string with a large, prominent, clickable image is an implicit caching decision.
Explicit Caching
Explicit caching decisions, by contrast, are made deterministically – that is, they involve specific instructions to the cache itself about what to cache, and when. (Cache this image now, even if it hasn’t been requested, but don’t cache this stock price, even if it is.) Warp Solutions technology provides unparalleled flexibility in determining what to cache, and when, and organizations can mix and match both explicit and implicit methods in order to achieve optimum caching efficiency as they see fit.
This sounds more complex than it actually is. The fact is that an organization – any organization – can quickly improve the responsiveness, capacity, and reliability of their web application infrastructure by simply installing Warp technology. No code changes of any kind are necessary. Beyond that, optimizing the caching environment can be as detailed or simple as is mandated by the individual business environment.
Partial Page Caching
The electronic nature of hypertext publishing invites rapid changes in content that reflect a rapidly changing world. Today’s web features the widespread use of database-based publishing techniques which facilitate the use of highly dynamic or volatile content, as well as the individual personalization of pages for each user that accesses them.
This last category – personalization – is an excellent example of data that does not play well with caching technology. It is highly volatile, low in statistical popularity, and has a user population of 1 -- not a great pedigree for caching. Yet, modern web sites increasingly feature some degree of personalization for most of their content, suggesting that these pages are off limits as viable candidates for caching. The answer is simple – don’t cache the whole page. Cache only those impersonalized components of the page that warrant caching, and allow the remainder pass through to the web server. We call it Partial Page Caching.
It’s an elegant solution to a challenging problem that may be easy to articulate, but is much more difficult to implement technically. It’s another example of the technical prowess that sets Warp Solutions apart. We’ve done more, simply, than figure out how to do it – we’ve implemented partial page caching in a way that minimizes the impact to your code base and your infrastructure.
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