Caching is a technique that improves the performance and speed of your website by storing frequently accessed data in memory or on disk, so that it can be delivered faster to visitors. Caching can also reduce the load on your server and save bandwidth.

There are different types of caching that can be applied to your website, such as:

  • Page caching: This is the process of storing the entire HTML output of a web page on disk or in memory so that it can be served directly to visitors without executing any PHP code or database queries. Page caching can significantly improve the response time of your website, especially for static or dynamic pages that don’t change frequently.

  • Object caching: This is the process of storing the results of PHP functions or database queries in memory so that they can be reused by subsequent requests without repeating the same computation or query. Object caching can improve the performance of your website, especially for dynamic pages that have complex or expensive logic or queries.

  • Browser caching: This is the process of instructing the visitors’ browsers to store the static assets of your website, such as images, CSS, JavaScript, fonts, etc., on their local storage so that they don’t need to be downloaded again on subsequent visits. Browser caching can reduce the network latency and bandwidth consumption of your website.

Using RunCloud Hub

RunCloud Hub is a powerful and easy-to-use tool that allows you to configure and manage different caching solutions for your WordPress website, such as:

  • FastCGI Page Caching: This is a page caching solution that uses the FastCGI module of Nginx to store and serve the web pages on disk. RunCloud FastCGI Page Caching is compatible with most WordPress plugins and themes, and supports advanced features such as cache expiration, cache purging, cache exclusion, cache bypass, cache variation, and cache warm-up.
  • Redis Page Cache: This is a page caching solution that uses Redis to store and serve web pages in memory. Redis Page Cache is compatible with WordPress and other PHP frameworks, and supports features such as cache expiration, cache purging, cache exclusion, cache bypass, cache variation, and cache warm-up.

We have written about this previously, and so you may find the following articles of interest:

  1. How To Use Nginx FastCGI Cache
  2. Redis Full-Page Caching
  3. An in-depth comparison of Redis Full-Page Cache or NGINX FastCGI Caching

In this guide, we will explain how to choose the best caching solution for your website based on your needs and preferences.

How to Choose Between Redis Full Page vs Nginx FastCGI Caching

Both solutions have their own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the characteristics of your website and the resources of your server.

To choose between Redis Full Page Caching and Nginx FastCGI Caching, you need to consider these factors:

Memory Usage

Redis Full Page Caching uses more memory than Nginx FastCGI Caching, as it stores the web pages in memory. If your server has limited memory, you may want to use Nginx FastCGI Caching instead, as it stores the web pages on disk. However, if your server has enough memory, you may benefit from Redis Full Page Caching, as it can deliver web pages faster from memory than from disk.

Disk Usage

Nginx FastCGI Caching uses more disk space than Redis Full Page Caching, as it stores the web pages on disk. If your server has limited disk space, you may want to use Redis Full Page Caching instead, as it stores the web pages in memory. However, if your server has enough disk space, you may benefit from Nginx FastCGI Caching, as it can handle more concurrent requests than Redis Full Page Caching, as it doesn’t rely on a single process to serve the web pages.

Cache Size

Redis Full Page Caching and Nginx FastCGI Caching have different limits on the cache size, depending on the configuration of Redis and Nginx. However, both solutions have a trade-off between the cache size and the cache performance. The larger the cache size, the more likely it is to have cache hits, but also the more time it takes to search and retrieve web pages from the cache. Therefore, you may want to optimize the cache size according to your website’s traffic and content.

Based on these factors, you can choose the best page caching solution for your website using RunCloud Hub.

However, the best choice depends on your specific website and server conditions, such as the memory and disk availability, the cache size and performance, and its compatibility with your existing software.