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SmartyDevs
Engineering · 12

Caches that make systems feel instant.

Browser, CDN, edge, application and database caching designed as one system. Invalidation done right. Cost down, latency down, complexity contained.

§ 01The problem

The problem we solve

Caching is the single highest-leverage performance tool — and the single most common source of subtle production bugs. Cache stampedes, stale invalidations, double-keyed entries, edge serving cookies, Redis OOMing at 3am. We design caches across all five layers (browser, CDN, edge, application, database) as one coherent system, with invalidation rules nobody on your team has to second-guess.

§ 02Capabilities

What we deliver

  • 01Browser cache headers: Cache-Control, ETag, immutable assets done correctly
  • 02CDN strategy: Cloudflare, Fastly, CloudFront, Bunny — cache keys, vary, purge
  • 03Edge caching with stale-while-revalidate and edge functions
  • 04Application caching with Redis, Memcached, in-memory caches
  • 05Database query caching, materialized views and read-replica routing
  • 06Cache-aside, write-through and write-behind patterns where each fits
  • 07Cache invalidation strategies including event-driven purging
  • 08Cache stampede protection (single-flight, request coalescing)
  • 09Per-tenant and per-user cache isolation in multi-tenant systems
  • 10Cost-aware caching: when caching saves money and when it doesn't
§ 03Deliverables

What you receive

  • Cache architecture document with diagrams and invariants
  • Implementation of the cache layers we recommended
  • Observability for hit rate, latency and invalidation correctness
  • A runbook for the failure modes specific to caching
§ 04Stack

Stack we reach for

Redis · Valkey
Memcached
Cloudflare · Fastly · CloudFront
Varnish
pg_partman · materialized views
Cloudflare Workers · Vercel Edge
ETag · Cache-Control · stale-while-revalidate
Single-flight · request coalescing
Datadog · Grafana
§ 05Ideal for

Ideal for

  • High-traffic sites where compute cost is becoming material
  • Apps where p95 latency is the blocker on conversion or retention
  • Teams whose Redis or CDN bills exceed their compute bill
  • Products with content that can be cached but currently isn't
  • Systems suffering from cache stampedes or invalidation bugs in production
§ 06Process

How an engagement runs

  1. 01

    Audit

    We measure current cache hit rates, identify cold paths, profile where compute and database load comes from.

  2. 02

    Design

    Cache architecture across all layers, invalidation rules, ownership of each cache, written down.

  3. 03

    Implementation

    Roll out caches in priority order, with observability ensuring each one is doing what we intended.

  4. 04

    Validation

    Load test, correctness test, cost comparison. Document the new normal.

§ 07Engagement

How to engage

01

Cache Audit

1 — 2 weeks

Measurement and recommendations with prioritized fixes — often pays for itself in cloud bill reduction.

02

Cache Implementation

4 — 10 weeks

End-to-end design and implementation of the recommended cache architecture.

03

Edge Performance Retainer

Ongoing

Continuous improvement of edge and cache infrastructure as your product grows.

§ 08Common questions

Frequently asked.

01How do you handle cache invalidation?

Boring answers usually — version-bumped cache keys, event-driven purge for things that can't tolerate staleness, stale-while-revalidate for things that can. We avoid clever invalidation; it's the source of most cache bugs.

02Can caching reduce our cloud bill?

Frequently yes — sometimes by 50% or more on compute-heavy workloads. We'll measure before we promise.

03Where does Redis fit?

Application cache, session store, queue backend, rate limiter, single-flight coordinator. We use it where it earns its keep — and warn you when you're using it for things a database should do.

Have a problem worth solving well?

Tell us the outcome you want. We'll tell you what it takes — honestly, within a week, in writing.

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