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answer: direct
beat: system-design
source: 1 article · updated: November 14, 2026
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What is a cold cache problem?

A cache that is empty or missing the hot data sends every request to the database until it refills. When a node is replaced, a cache grows or a region fails over, hit rate collapses, latency spikes and the database can be overwhelmed by misses at exactly the wrong moment.

Answered in

Caches That Survive Change: Warming, CDC Invalidation and Partitioning Apart From the Database

Resizing a cache, replacing a node or failing over a region causes cold starts. How warming, log-driven invalidation and separate partitioning prevent them.

Crashtech Editorial November 14, 2026 System Design & Architecture

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