Varnish Cache is a modern, flexible HTTP accelerator that speeds up websites by caching both static and dynamic content. Varnish Cache is an open source tool that can also be deployed on content delivery solutions such as Section, and it has grown in popularity in the past several years because it is faster and more configurable than older solutions like Nginx and Squid.
Varnish uses a unique language, Varnish Cache Configuration Langauge or VCL, that gives developers a high level of control over what they cache and how they cache it. This level of control allows users to cache HTML documents (the first element of a web page that is loaded and the most important for back end load time), hole-punch pages so that only certain content is cached, and much more. Varnish Cache can also be configured to be used as a load balancer, and there are several other uses that make it an extremely versatile tool.
The options in caching when it comes to Varnish Cache are almost limitless, but to use it effectively developers must have a good understanding of not only where Varnish Cache sits in relation to their servers and load balancers, but also how to use VCL and how to measure Varnish Cache’s success using metrics and logs.
Learn How to Configure Varnish Cache
In this Varnish Cache tutorial, Section’s CTO Daniel Bartholomew will review the fundamentals of Varnish Cache, give an introduction to VCL and demonstrate how to set up basic caching with VCL. He will also show viewers how to use Varnish Cache logs and metrics to improve configurations, and how to test and troubleshoot Varnish Cache setups.
Join us on Tuesday, June 27th to learn how to get started with Varnish Cache - whether it’s on your own servers or through a content delivery solution. This interactive session will include demos of VCL and Varnish Cache testing, and cover frequently asked Varnish Cache questions such as how to use Varnish Cache with HTTPS. At the end of the session Daniel will take questions to help viewers with their own specific Varnish Cache needs.
