Data eviction policy in Aiven for Dragonfly

Aiven for Dragonfly® optimizes cache memory management with a low-overhead data eviction policy.

Understand data eviction policy

Aiven for Dragonfly® uses a variation of the 2Q key eviction algorithm, which intelligently manages cache by deciding which data to retain or evict based on usage patterns. This system uses two distinct buffers to streamline cache memory management:

• Protected buffer: Stores frequently accessed items, indicating their higher value for caching due to repeated use.
• Probationary buffer: Temporarily stores new or less frequently accessed items. These items move to the protected buffer upon repeated access, indicating their growing significance.

This dual-buffer approach ensures resilience against fluctuating access patterns, maintaining cache efficiency without additional memory overhead per item. It's a key factor in Dragonfly's ability to keep valuable data accessible while managing less critical data efficiently.

Enable cache_mode via Aiven Console

By default, cache_mode in Aiven for Dragonfly is disabled, which might result in out-of-memory errors when the maxmemory limit is reached. To prevent these errors, enable cache_mode in the advanced settings.

1. Log in to the Aiven Console, select your project, and select your Aiven for Dragonfly service.
2. Select Service settings from the sidebar.
3. On the Service settings page, scroll to the Advanced configuration section.
4. Click Configure.
5. In the Advanced configuration dialog, set the cache_mode toggle to Enabled.
6. Click Save configuration.