How to Use Caching in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers

Caching in Kubernetes Ingress Caching is a key strategy to reduce backend load and improve response times for clients. In Kubernetes, caching is usually implemented through the Ingress controller — particularly with NGINX. Why Use Caching? Reduce load on backend services Improve speed for repeated requests Minimize cost and bandwidth Smooth handling of traffic spikes Common Caching Setup: NGINX Ingress The NGINX Ingress Controller supports proxy caching via annotations. Step 1: Enable caching in your Ingress resource apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1 kind: Ingress metadata: name: my-app-ingress annotations: nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-cache: "my-cache-zone" nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-cache-key: "$scheme$request_method$host$request_uri" nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-cache-use-stale: "error timeout updating http_500 http_502 http_503 http_504" spec: rules: - host: myapp.example.com http: paths: - path: / pathType: Prefix backend: service: name: my-app port: number: 80 Step 2: Define the cache zone in the NGINX ConfigMap apiVersion: v1 kind: ConfigMap metadata: name: nginx-configuration namespace: ingress-nginx data: proxy-cache-paths: | my-cache-zone keys_zone=my-cache-zone:10m max_size=100m inactive=60m use_temp_path=off; ⚠️ Requires restarting the Ingress controller or reloading its config. ...

June 16, 2025 · 2 min · 230 words · John Cena

What You Need to Know About CDNs (Content Delivery Networks)

What is a CDN? A CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a geographically distributed network of servers designed to deliver content (like images, scripts, and videos) to users faster by serving them from locations closest to them. Why Use a CDN? 1. Faster Load Times Content is cached at edge locations, reducing latency. 2. Reduced Server Load Requests are offloaded from origin servers, improving scalability. 3. Improved Availability CDNs handle traffic surges and DDoS mitigation. ...

June 16, 2025 · 2 min · 233 words · John Cena