Zero Downtime

Stale Cache Support

Users never wait. Users never see errors.
34.8x faster responses after cache updates.

Stale-While-RevalidateStale-If-ErrorRFC 5861 Compliant

Stale-While-Revalidate

When content is updated, serve the stale version instantly while fetching fresh content in the background. Users never wait for backend responses.

34.8x Faster
vs waiting for backend

Stale-If-Error

When your backend fails, serve cached content instead of error pages. Your site stays up even during outages, deployments, or database crashes.

100% Uptime
during backend failures

Without Stale Cache Support

After Cache Invalidation

  • First user waits 500ms+ for backend
  • All concurrent users wait too
  • Backend gets hammered
  • Slow pages = lost sales

During Backend Failure

  • Users see 502/503 error pages
  • Site appears completely down
  • Panic calls at 3am
  • Damaged brand reputation

With Trident Stale Cache

After Cache Invalidation

  • All users get 15ms responses
  • Fresh content loads in background
  • Backend load stays normal
  • Seamless user experience

During Backend Failure

  • Users see cached content
  • Site remains functional
  • Time to fix without panic
  • Customers never know

Simple Configuration

Stale-While-Revalidate

# trident.toml

[cache]
grace_period = "24h"

# That's it! One line.
# Compare to Varnish VCL:
# 20+ lines of complex code

Stale-If-Error

# trident.toml

[cache.stale_if_error]
enabled = true
max_stale_age = "1h"
status_codes = [500, 502, 503, 504]
on_connection_error = true

Compare to Varnish: 20+ lines of VCL code for the same functionality

Real-World Benchmark

E-commerce Simulation (500ms Backend)

ScenarioTridentVarnish OSSWinner
Cold Cache513ms512msTie
Warm Cache16ms16msTie
After Invalidation15ms522ms34.8x faster
10 Concurrent After Purge10/10 fast0/10 fast100%

All 10 concurrent users got instant responses with Trident. With Varnish OSS, all 10 waited 500ms+ for the backend.

Business Impact

For an e-commerce site with:

100,000
Daily visitors
500ms
Backend response
10/hour
Cache invalidations

With Trident

  • Response after invalidation: ~20ms
  • Daily wait time saved: ~13 hours
  • Bounce rate impact: Minimal

Without Stale Cache

  • Response after invalidation: ~500ms
  • Daily wait time: ~13+ hours
  • Bounce rate impact: Significant

Never Make Users Wait Again

Stale cache support is included in all Trident plans.