Imagine your Drupal site during a product launch: high-traffic load, and you need the launch to go seamlessly. What could go wrong: images dragging page weight, caches thrashing, and background jobs colliding. Good performance is about NOT having to go through this experience.
Thankfully Drupal offers some fantastic performance-boosting modules that can take a lot of that stress off your shoulders. In this blog, I shall talk about how you can make the most out of 7 most popular performance-centric Drupal modules. Let’s dive right in!
1. Redis
Redis, an open-source module, is meant to store key-value data in memory. It’s Drupal’s lightning-fast backend tool for caching, lock management, and flood control, replacing slower database-driven cache bins.
Why you need it:
Think about a traffic-heavy website. Maybe you got a product launch lined up, a breaking news post, or an ad campaign. Each of the requests was hammering the database for cache entries. This is where Redis steps in.
This in-memory data store accelerates cache lookups, taking the weight off your database and making page load smooth even during heavy traffic. The Drupal Redis module is directly tied to Drupal’s caching system, which makes its benefits easily accessible - fewer slow queries, optimum stability, and a better experience for visitors.
How to install the module:
- Ensure that the Redis server and the PHP Redis extension are available on your stack
- Add the module:
composer require drupal/redis
drush en redis -y
- As per the respective project’s README, configure the cache backends in settings.php
2. Memcache API and Integration
Another memory-based module, the Memcache API, is a high-performance, distributed memory caching system. It connects Drupal’s caching layer to Memcached to store the cache data in memory instead of the database.
Why you need it:
Enterprise-scale sites run across multiple servers. Hence, performance bottlenecks are most likely to occur due to database overloading. It’s important to be critical about every user session, cache hit, and query until latency comes in.
Memcached helps take the pressure off the caching system. With this module, Drpal allows you to store cache bins in memory instead of on disk. This ensures your visitors see faster responses and your infrastructure blends in perfectly. It’s one of the discreet ways to optimize performance in ways your users won’t even notice, except for the obvious - faster performance.
How to install the module:
composer require drupal/memcache
drush en memcache -y
Once installed, point the cache backend to Memcached in setting.php, followed by a removal of the lines to avoid bootstrap errors if you ever decide to uninstall the module.
3. Purge
Purge is all about managing cache invalidation. This Drupal module allows you to integrate with CDNs, reverse proxies, and other caching layers, which makes sure that your content updates blend in seamlessly without affecting your entire cache.
Why you need it:
All publishers have gone through this problem at least once: they publish an update, but it takes ages to reflect as caches haven’t cleared. You can’t afford to manually flush out the entire cache for one update. It’s inefficient and risky. This module allows you to invalidate only the cache content that actually underwent changes.
Purge works well with Varnish, Fastly, or Akamai and ensures that our edge caches stay fresh while your end users can see the latest updates. If speed and editorial accuracy are your performance goals, then this is your go-to module.
How to install the module:
composer require drupal/purge
drush en purge -y
Integrate the installed module with your proxy/CDN of choice and enable any helper module to purge file URLs on update/delete.
4. WebP
WebP is pretty common when it comes to Google's developed image format. It delivers high-quality visuals at smaller file sizes as compared to JPEG and PNG. The Drupal WebP module allows you to automatically convert and deliver site images in WebP format.
Why you need it:
As a tech person, you spend hours optimizing code and tuning your cache. But if your site still ends up serving bloated images, you are on the downside. Images are one of the heaviest resources on a webpage. Most often, the single heaviest resource. It affects load times and Core Web Vitals.
Google’s modern image format allows crisp visuals as JPEG or PNG, only in a smaller size, in the form of the WebP format. The Drupal WebP module allows you to serve lightweight, high-quality images automatically. This results in a faster, more user-friendly site, more so for mobile users on slower connections.
How to install the module:
composer require drupal/webp
drush en webp -y
Make sure to confirm server support and enable responsive_image (core) when using responsive styles. Generate WebP via Image Styles. Additionally, some projects may use other modules for fallbacks depending on browser requirements.
5. Advanced CSS/JS Aggregation (AdvAgg)
Next on my list is the AdvAgg Drupal module, which enhances the core CSS and JavaScript aggregation system. It lets you minify, compress, reorder, and deliver assets to improve front-end performance.
Why you need it:
Today’s websites need a tangled web of stylesheets and scripts. This means more and more waiting before the page loads completely. This module under Drupal helps by taking Advanced CSS/JS Aggregation to the next level.
It optimizes, compresses, and smartly groups front-end assets to allow browsers to do minimal work. As a result, you get better performance scores, and users get a seamless experience with a more responsive and interactive site performance, resulting in lower bounce rates and higher engagement.
How to install the module:
composer require drupal/advagg
drush en advagg -y
Enable submodules and conservative settings to expand. Validate each of these abilities as your performance tooling to reap the most out of the module.
6. Ultimate Cron
Ultimate Cron is a Drupal module meant for scheduling, providing fine-grained control over cron jobs. It lets you split tasks, schedule them, and manage tasks more efficiently compared to Drupal core’s default cron.
Why you need it:
Cron jobs are what run behind the scenes of every Drupal site. They clear caches, process queues, and import data. However, on a traffic-heavy large site, those cron jobs can pile up, hogging server resources at the time when your site needs them the most.
Ultimate Cron redefined the process, allowing you to schedule and distribute tasks smartly. Instead of one giant cron run, you deal with smaller, reliable jobs that don’t interrupt your site’s performance. This Drupal module differs a chaotic rush hour from a smooth traffic flow.
How to install the module:
composer require drupal/ultimate_cron
drush en ultimate_cron -y
Once installed, configure the launchers and schedule them per job, followed by splitting long tasks into separate pools.
7. Node Revision Delete
As the name suggests, Node Revision Delete automatically deletes older, unused content revisions from your existing database. It’s that housekeeping modules that help keep your content repository clean, efficient, and fast.
Why you need it:
Well, not going to lie - as a content writer, revisions are part of my job. Do I like them? Sure, because they ensure quality and provide safety nets to the content. But the downside to it is that they can pile up fast. An old site might be lugging thousands of revisions no one will ever need. That clutter eats up space, slows your database queries, and inflates backups.
Drupal’s Node Revision Delete module makes things tidier. It clears out old, unnecessary revisions while updating the recent ones for safety. It gives your site that noticeable performance lift you always wanted.
How to install the module:
composer require drupal/node_revision_delete
drush en node_revision_delete -y
Once installed, set policies for every content type, and then run via cron or Drush on a schedule.
Final thoughts
Performance takes a lot into account. It’s a system. Using the right tools can help upgrade your performance to the levels your business needs. Start with caching with the help of Redis or Memcache and Purge modules, add WebP and AdvAgg to optimize page-speed, proceed with Ultimate Cron to harden your operations and maintain long-term hygiene via Node Revision Delete.
Our team can fine-tune your Drupal site for faster load times and better performance, keeping your visitors engaged. Let's talk!
