When we browse different Internet sites, without us noticing, they are installing useful information on our computer so that the next time we enter them, the loading of that page is much faster and thus we have savings in broadband (among other benefits).
But not only these sites host information in our cache, so do all those applications that we use most frequently. The reason for this is so that they work better, recharge faster and remember our data.
There are different types of cache and there are also steps to clear them in different operating systems. In this article we will show you the most important points you need to know about this memory.
What is a cache memory and what are they for in computing?
The cache is the place where all the latest data that has been generated on our computer is stored.. This data may be the result of some process or duplicate files that exist elsewhere on our PC and are needed for faster access. It is very similar to main memory, but it is smaller, faster, and has faster access.
It is said that there is a cache hit when the data being searched for is stored in this memory, while a cache miss It is performed when the requested information is not found there. Generally we will find volatile memory located between the CPU and RAMthis location is not random but rather mandatory because by staying there it improves the exchange of data between these units.
What are the main types of cache memories that exist?
By staying in this memory all kinds of information that our computer needs to speed up the boot process and can translate all this into a better user experience, there are different sources or memory depending on where the data comes from.
Next we will show you each cache memory:
From web
Perhaps it is the volatile memory that we know the most or talk about the most on a daily basis. When we want to increase the efficiency in the loading of Internet pages or sites and at the same time we want to reduce the consumption of data or broadband, this memory is necessary to meet those objectives..
In this memory all the data that works only for the user which we will call “private cache”the information that different websites and various users will use, we will call this “public cache” and those data that only work for the server that originates them is called “gateway cache”
track
This memory has a high acquisition cost since it is solid state. the same are intended for supercomputersthat is, it is intended for those computers that need to perform superior or specific calculations and have high performance.
disk
It is much easier and faster to find a byte in RAM memory than a byte of information in central memory or hard disk..
By saving recently used data in RAM, we will considerably increase the performance of the software that we have installed on the CPU. When we associate a small part of RAM memory with the hard drive it is known as disk cache.which is used to store that data and make the startup and processing of installed applications more efficient.
How does a cache work on your computer?
The cache works on those requests for input and output operations (measured per second), which are necessary to increase data recovery and reduce, as a final result, hardware or software acquisition costs.
If we did not have a cache memory, we would have to allocate other resources to be able to supplant its operation, which would increase costs, but likewise, I wouldn’t have the same performance as a team. By storing information in this memory, better results will be obtained in installed applications since latency is significantly reduced.
An important point to keep in mind, is what we mentioned before with the cache hit. A cache will work well if we can allocate or classify the correct data to be stored in the cache to increase the speed of application processing.
Steps to Clear Any Cache on Windows or MacOS
Although the cache memory has many advantages and benefits when it comes to the performance of the different resources of a computer, it also has a point against it. This negative factor arises when the memory is full and begins to slow down the processing of our CPU.
A preliminary clarification: the DNS is in charge of translating or relating all the complex number addresses, existing in a global database, into domain names. When we access through an IP what we are doing (basically) is through the DNSwrite that complex data.
The DNS cache saves those domain names to which we have accessed so that when we want to enter again we do not have to look for it in the global database.
Next, we will show you all the steps you need to do to clear memory for Windows, MacOS and Linux operating systems:
on windows
In our Windows operating system we will perform these steps:
- We click on “Start”
- we write the word “Run”
- We choose the application “Run”
- A box will appear where we will write “ipconfig /flushdns”
- We press “OK”
The command will allow emptying and restoring the content that the cache has in relation to the DNS
on macOS
When our operating system is MacOS we will have to perform these tasks:
- We click on “Applications”
- we select “Utilities”
- we choose “Terminal”
- A box will appear and we will write “sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder”
- If no warning appears, we will write the password of the administrator of the team
- We click on “To accept”
on linux
If our computer works with the Linux operating system and we need to clear the DNS cache, we will follow this simple step by step:
- We enter “System”
- We wrote “sudo systemd-resolve –flush-cachres”
- Now we execute that command
If we are using RedHat or ArchLinux:
- The command we will use will be “sudo systemctl restart nscd”
Why is it important to delete caches from time to time?
We know that the cache is designed to improve the user experience, It is also true that it causes certain damages in the processing and performance of the equipment.
There are situations in which we are not going to enter certain Internet sites again, or we are going to save information on the hard drive that we will not use permanently. These two operations store information in our cache and we don’t really need it to be stored there.
This is why we recommend you clean the cache periodically because you will get benefits that we will mention below:
- A lots of sites changed their interface and the cache does not let it work well on our PC because it has old information.
- By emptying memory there is more capacity to accommodate other data that will be used by other applications or sites, causing our range of resources is larger and can cover more programs.
- Protect our privacymany sites store information in our cache to spy on us and obtain our tastes and preferences.
- When memory is overwritten when it is full (many times with things we do not need) we lose information that we do need and we put aside for other useless ones.
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