Should I use Memcached or File System for Caching?

[curtdonohue]

In the Back Office>Preferences>Performance at the bottom of the page, there is the "Caching" section. Can anyone tell me, first, should I be caching? It seem like a no-brainer that I should be, but I thought I would ask.

Second, if I do cache, what should I use? Memcached or File System?

If I use File System, what are the directory levels about? What directory level should I use?

I can't find any really good description on this topic.

[cool cellphone case]

my host supplier tell me that they don't offer memcached because i use a shared host. there isn't any instruction about how to use it in wiki and in forum too.

the site runing very slow after us v1.4, maybe caching can help, but don't how to do it.

[fernandokerber]

does anyone here knows how to cache and configure memcached?

[curtdonohue]

I got a bit more information from Bluehost regarding memcached. Simply put, they won't let me use it because Bluehost is a shared host. This would probably be the same for any shared host such as HostGator and Godaddy.

It is probable that the only way to use memcached is to have a dedicated server. A dedicated server is very expensive compared to shared hosting and probably not appropriate for small stores. I'm not sure if hosting companies would allow you to use this on a VPS (virtual private server) or not.

The bottom line is that you should disable the memcached option if your host does not allow you to use it.

[cesarpenafiel]

I have a shared server with godaddy and I was using cache (file system). I am running an update on the SQL table that opens and closes the store (sets it in catalog mode). I realized that since the file system cache was enabled, it wasn't working. So I assume that godaddy must be allowing me to use the file system cache. I still don't understand what it does. I can see the smarty cache, it generates the files only once. But given that my direct database updates weren't seen after I enabled file system cache, I have to assume it must be caching the configuration table somewhere?

I would like to use all of the caching possible, but if anybody knows how to force a flush on the cache (or how to do the SQL update properly) so that it is seen when the cache is enabled, I'd appreciate it.