The Three-Layer Architecture
An enterprise cache stack delivers sub-100ms TTFB globally, handles traffic spikes, and provides cache coherence. This blueprint uses three layers: Cloudflare APO (Edge), Nginx FastCGI (Server), and Redis (Application).
Layer 1: Cloudflare APO
Serves cached HTML from Cloudflare’s 300+ edge nodes. For anonymous visitors, the request never reaches your server. Global TTFB: 20–50ms.
Layer 2: Nginx FastCGI
Requests that miss the edge cache hit Nginx FastCGI cache at the server. Responses are served in under 5ms without executing PHP or MySQL, handling origin cache misses efficiently.
Layer 3: Redis Object Cache
Requests that miss both edge and server cache (dynamic pages, WooCommerce checkout) execute PHP. Redis ensures database queries within the request are served from memory, reducing DB load by 60–80%.