caching

Cache-Aside is ideal for read-heavy APIs to reduce latency and database load. It stores frequently accessed data closer to the consumer, preventing repeated fetches while allowing you to specify TTLs and invalidation rules for data freshness.

You maintain distributed cache consistency by defining explicit invalidation strategies and eviction policies. Setting safe defaults for data freshness across multiple nodes ensures that cached data stays reasonably current without overwhelming the database.

Use Write-Through when you need immediate data consistency between the cache and database. Choose Write-Behind to minimize write latency by asynchronously updating the database, balancing freshness and performance based on your requirements.

Yes, you can apply multiple cache layers simultaneously. Configuring browser, CDN, application, and database caches together reduces latency at different levels, ensuring fast content delivery while applying TTLs to maintain reasonable freshness.

The best way to set TTLs for an e-commerce catalog is using a time-based expiration approach. This serves fast product listings by caching data while staying reasonably fresh, preventing stale inventory from showing to customers.

Stale data appears when cache invalidation strategies are not properly configured. Without explicit eviction policies or Refresh-Ahead mechanisms, updated database records are not purged or refreshed in the cache before the TTL expires.