Transcript Strategies For Scaling ColdFusion

Strategies
for Scaling
ColdFusion
Caching
enabling rapid growth through dynamic digital solutions
Page Request Supply Chain
Data/Persistence
Business Logic
Middleware
File
System
Application
Servers
Transport
Client
Web Internet
Server
COM
Network
EJB
RDBMS
Cold Fusion
Application
Server
JDBC
Web
Server
Web
Browser
Routers
OTHER
local
MQ
proprietary
HTML/text
Images/binary
OTHER
remote
Request Processing
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Typical Work Breakdown
Avg. Page Response time: 7 seconds
SQL
Queries
CF
Logic
Web
Server
5 x 30 ms 5 x 100 ms
=150 ms =500 ms =50 ms
Internet
IE
NS
=5000 ms =1000 ms
Transport Client
Data Business
Access Logic Presentation
Rendering
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Generating Pages Faster
1. Smaller pages
smaller images
less whitespace
2. Faster transport
over network
3. Faster CF page
generation
4. Faster DB access
SQL
Queries
CF
Logic
Web
Server
Internet
IE
NS
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What is Caching?
 Temporary storage of the data from
a prior process as possible to the
next data consumer
 Cached data can be accessed
programmatically served by network
appliances/processes
 Optimized data format
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Opportunities for Caching
Data
Business Logic
Middleware
File
System
Application
Servers
Transport
Client
Web Internet
Server
COM
Network
EJB
RDBMS
Cold Fusion
Application
Server
JDBC
Web
Server
Web
Browser
Routers
OTHER
local
MQ
OTHER
remote
Request Processing
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Caching Techniques
Web
Browser
RDBMS
Java
DB Caching
Most database systems have
have facilitates to cache
frequently requested data.
Additionally, 3rd party tools
like timesten offer remote
DB caching
Cold Fusion
Application
Server
Web
Server
Routers
Network
Webserver Caching
xCache caches fully
or partially rendered
CF pages and strips
whitespaces
CF Caching
Stores optimized, rendered
and/or processed data.
Object Caching
PowerTier maintains a
transactional, distributed cache
of java memory objects. Can be
configured to write back to
RDBMS or other data providers.
Cache appliance
Caches text
or images
Client cache
Caches entire page
on browser
Cache network
Akamai, Sandpiper
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Caching Checklist
 DB caching
 CF caching
• Frequently used queries
• Frequently used data structures
• Rendered HTML (components, partial
pages)
• Entire pages (CFCACHE)
 Web server caching
• xCache
 Cache appliances
• Reverse proxy server
• Cache network
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Database Caching
 Most major databases allow for caching
of data in RAM on the database server
 This will minimize the work the
database server needs to do to process
each request
 3rd party tools such as TimesTen
(www.timesTen.com) allows for full
RDBMS functions to be provided in a
RAM based database
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CF Cached Queries
 ColdFusion allows for commonly used
queries to be cached in RAM
 This is done through the use of the
CACHEDWITHIN and CACHEDAFTER
parameters of the CFQUERY tag
 Using cached queries reduces the
number of network calls, as well as
reducing the load on the database
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Caching Data in CF Structures
 Using CF structures, it is possible
to load large sections of data into
persistent memory variables
(server, application, session or
request), reducing the need for
network connections and database
processing of each query
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Caching Data in CF
Structures - Advantages
 Extremely fast queries. Serving
data directly from RAM removes
costly network connections and
database processing time
 Removes points of failure from the
application. Application can
continue to run, even if the
database server fails
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Caching Data in CF
Structures - Disadvantages
 Requires significant amounts of RAM
 Difficulties are introduced when data is
updated and must be kept consist
across all machines in a cluster
 Requires more knowledgeable
developers to query a database stored
in structures than it does to use a
CFQUERY tag
 Requires lengthy scripts to run as a
server comes online to populate
structures in RAM
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Page Caching Using CFCACHE




CFCACHE allows page rendering speed to be
increased considerably
For pages that do not require dynamic
content to be retrieved for each user,
CFCACHE will create temporary files that
contain the static HTML returned from a
particular run of the ColdFusion page
Can be used to specify server or client side
caching, as well as cache timeouts
Can only respond to URL variables
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CFCACHE
Advantages:
 Cache can be
programmatically
purged
 Easy to use
 Excellent for
caching page
data polled using
CFHTTP
Disadvantages:
 ColdFusion still
involved in
processing
requested file
 URL driven, can
not customize
based on form
(or other)
variables
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Caching Semi Static Pages
 Semi static pages are any pages
which are database driven, yet
identical for all users who view it.
This can include:
• Product information
• Company information
• Job listings
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Caching Semi Static Pages
 Static pages can be created from
production data, either using home
built CFFILE solution, or 3rd party
applications such as Post Point xBuilder
(www.xcache.Com)
 Verity collections can be used to search
the static HTML pagse, negating the
need for a SQL search
 Index pages can be created, which link
to the static HTML
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Caching Semi Static Pages
Advantages
 ColdFusion is not
used in the
process of
displaying the
page
 No database
interaction to
display the page
Disadvantages
 Can only work for
pages which are
identical to all
users
 Requires more
space on hard
drive
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Web Server Caching: xCache
 xCache allows for full and partial page caching
 xCache works along side ColdFusion, and
parses incoming requests before it does
 Parts of pages which should not be cached
can be marked with <xcacheoutput> tags,
which tells xCache to let CF parse that section
of a page
 Pages which should not be cached can be
marked with <meta name=“pragma nocache”> tags
 xCache administrator can be used to set
caching for sites, directories or pages
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xCache Advantages
 No coding changes necessary
 Easy to administer
 Dynamic ColdFusion at static
HTML speeds
 Partial page caching possible.
 Compression eliminates
whitespace
 No additional hardware necessary
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xCache Disadvantages
 Only works with Microsoft Internet
Information server
 Entirely URL driven, making
personalization more difficult
 Current release is language /
browser ignorant (multi-lingual
sites more difficult)
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Sample xCache Metrics
Average Response Time
(80 concurrent users)
40
36.08
Seconds
35
30
22.64
25
17.28
20
15
9.2
10
5
Cached
Uncached
3.31
1.34
1.15
1.18
0
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Reverse Proxy Servers
 Reverse proxy servers are hardware
based caching appliances
 Sit between Web server and clients.
 Can be set to cache static files (.Html,
.jpg, .Gif, .Js, etc.)
 Popular commercial products include
‘Intel NetStructure 1500 Cache
Appliance’ and ‘F5 edge FX cache’
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Reverse Proxy Server Advantages
 Non dynamic content can be served as
static HTML files, removing the need
for ColdFusion to touch the file
 Uses a separate Web server offloading
the work needed by the Web server
ColdFusion uses
 One cache server can cache files for
entire cluster
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Reverse Proxy Servers Disadvantages
 Hardware based caching servers
are more expensive than software
based solutions
 Can not cache partial pages
 No programmatic control of cache
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enabling rapid growth through dynamic digital solutions
Sample Intel NetStructure
1500 Cache Appliance Metrics
Average Response Time
60 concurrent users
40
35
Seconds
30
25
21.21
20.60
20
16.54
15.72
15
Cached
Uncached
10
5
0.91
0.83
0.75
0.97
0
Homepage
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Services
Portfolio
Pages
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Adding A Reverse Proxy Server
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Caching Networks
 A recent trend in application
architecture has been to distribute
application caches
 Allows for users to download
pages and graphics from the
server geographically closest
 Reduces internet latency
 Removes points of failure
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enabling rapid growth through dynamic digital solutions
Caching Networks Suppliers
 Akamai (www.akamai.com) offers
distributed caching services
 F5 (www.f5.com) sells 3-DNS and
EDGE-FX controllers, allowing users to
build their own caching network
 Cisco (www.cisco.com) sells
DistributedDirector, which allows
customers to optimize server load by
distributing the load across disparate
networks
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enabling rapid growth through dynamic digital solutions
Conclusion
 Caching can help performance of all of
the slowest aspects of any application
 Planning caching early can help save
time and money in scaling applications
 Effective caching helps existing
hardware handle more requests,
helping to save the costs of additional
servers
 With effective caching, any application
can be scaled to handle extreme traffic
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