Overview
FastCache is a feature introduced in Accelerator 21.2.0 and is a feature that significantly improves the performance of creating Blueprints. It is a feature to address the lag time when building Blueprints with a sizable amount of records. Blueprints give feedback about how many records will be processed by each node. While previous methods of processing millions of records through the Nodes to provide feedback to the creator could take a few minutes, FastCache reduces the time to process records by a significant amount.
Table of Contents
Process
How Does It Work?
FastCache works by storing the results of a Blueprint query in a cloud-based location. Instead of processing the records repeatedly each time a Blueprint needs to show updated logic, the results of the first query are stored in a cache that can be quickly accessed.
The Accelerator administrator controls the amount and location of records stored for FastCache.
When a Blueprint is tested but not saved, FastCache results for 24 hours. When a Blueprint is tested and saved, FastCache results are stored until refreshed.
Setting Up FastCache
Navigate to Admin > System configuration > File Storage.
Establish a file path for Cloud File Storage.
Navigate to Admin > System configuration > FastCache Settings. FastCache cannot be used until the options here are configured.
Within this screen, configure the Cloud File Storage option, which presents existing Cloud File Storage options that were configured within the previous screen.
Declare the File Path to store cached results at a Cloud location.
Set a Max Number of Records per File. When caching a file in the cloud environment, each cache saves as a separate file. When handling large queries, the Max Number of Records per File sets a limit to the size of each file. A query that returns more than the maximum number of records is split between multiple files.
Read the help text on this screen to better understand the technical details of FastCache.
FastCache in Blueprints
Navigate to People > Blueprints. Open an existing Campaign that has not used FastCache or create a new Blueprint.
If FastCache has not yet been used on a Blueprint, then the FastCache box at the top of the screen will be empty of information.
If FastCache has already been used with a Blueprint, then this box will contain the information from the last caching.
Select the Recount Blueprint option to initiate a new FastCache.
After selecting the Recount Blueprint, a loading symbol will appear within the FastCache box, showing that FastCache is collecting data.
When FastCache is complete, information will update on the screen.
This first caching of information may take some time depending on the size of the query results returned. After the caching is complete, future refreshing of data will be much quicker. There may be a slight delay still if working with millions of records, but the delay of running the query for the first time will not need to be done again.
Clicking the small dropdown arrow on the FastCache box to see more details.
If a manual refresh of the FastCache needs to be run, click Refresh Cache. If there have been any updates to the Blueprint Query or any major changes to the table containing the Audience data (a large addition of records or a change to the schema), then refreshing the cache is recommended.
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