Server-side caching is a technique used by web servers to store frequently accessed data and resources in a cache for faster retrieval and reduced server load. Utilizing it, website speed can be significantly improved, leading to a better user experience, increased engagement, and improved search rankings.
In this blog, I’ll explain what server-side caching is, how it works, and the benefits it can bring to your website’s speed and user experience.
Contents
What Do Cache and Caching Mean?
Before exploring server-side caching, let’s clarify what cache and caching mean.
The cache is a temporary storage that keeps frequently accessed data for quick retrieval, improving app or system performance.
Caching in computing speeds up web browsers by storing web pages, reducing load times. It also helps databases by storing frequently accessed data, cutting down retrieval times.
Caching speeds up access to frequently used data by storing a copy in a more accessible location. This allows the application to retrieve data from the cache rather than the slower original source.
What is Server-Side Caching
Server-side caching stores frequently accessed data or web server responses in a cache. This cached data can be quickly retrieved and served to clients like web browsers, skipping the need for the server to regenerate content.
When a web server gets a request for a resource like a web page or an image, it checks its cache. If a valid cached copy is available, the server returns it to the client without regenerating it.
This can greatly cut down the time needed to process requests, leading to faster responses and better performance. With less strain on the server, it can also lower server costs and make scaling easier.
- Stores frequently accessed data
- Reduces server load
- Improves website speed
Benefits of Server-side Caching
Server-side caching offers many advantages for web applications and websites, such as:
- Improved performance: By storing frequently accessed data and resources in a cache, the server can reduce the amount of time required to retrieve the information, leading to faster response times and better overall performance.
- Reduced server load: By serving cached content, the server can reduce the number of requests it receives and the amount of work it has to do. This can reduce the load on the server, improving its capacity and scalability.
- Better user experience: Faster response times and improved performance can lead to a better user experience, reducing bounce rates and increasing engagement.
- Reduced bandwidth usage: By using the cache to serve static content, such as images and videos, a web server can reduce its bandwidth usage, potentially resulting in cost savings.
- Lower costs: By reducing server load, bandwidth usage, and the amount of work required to generate content, server-side caching can help to reduce the cost of operating a website or web application.
How to Implement Server-side Caching
Server-side caching can be achieved with plugins, CDNs, and built-in features. Here are a few methods:
Use Caching Plugins
Content management systems (CMS) like WordPress offer caching plugins for server-side caching. These plugins let you manage caching, set expiration times for cached content, and purge the cache when needed.
For example, WordPress caching plugins include WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, W3 Total Cache, etc.
- CMS caching plugins
- Configure caching process
- Examples: WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache
Implement CDN Caching
A content delivery network (CDN) caches often-used resources like images, CSS, and JavaScript files on geographically dispersed edge servers closer to clients.
This can greatly decrease server load and boost performance globally. Most CDNs provide built-in caching features, which can be easily set up to cache static content.
Cloudflare is a great way to implement CDN caching. It’s simple and offers features like SSL/TLS, firewall, and security. Recently, they launched Cloudflare APO for WordPress — a smart caching system that can store dynamic content and serve your entire WP site from its edge network.
Use Built-in Caching Features
Many web servers have built-in caching features for dynamic content. For example, Nginx and Apache offer caching modules to store and serve content from a cache.
Various third-party services like Redis and Memcached can implement server-side caching in web applications. These services provide advanced features like data sharding and distributed caching, allowing for highly scalable solutions.