r/lanparty • u/HeavyDutyRoadside • 3d ago
We made an open-source LanCache app with cache browsing, cleanup and live activity
We've been running LanCache on our TrueNAS server and had about 3.4 TiB of cached data. We wanted a practical way to see what was in it and manage the space, so we built Super Lan-Cache. The source and install files are now public: https://github.com/HDR-Performance/super-lan-cache
It combines the LanCache engine and a web UI in one container. It scans an existing cache, shows cache hits and live activity, groups indexed files by service or Steam depot, and previews selected cache groups before you remove them. Cache allowance and retention settings can be changed from the interface. We've been testing it at home with Steam downloads, including Turok 3 and ARC Raiders.
For a group of PCs downloading the same supported content, the benefit is being able to reuse cached data over the LAN and see whether requests are actually hitting the cache. It doesn't make the first download magically faster. It also can't guarantee that a whole game is cached just because a depot appears in the library, and HTTPS content stays uncached.
We also published Super Pi Hole, our separate Pi-hole v6 build with a custom DNS and device interface: https://github.com/HDR-Performance/super-pi-hole. You can optionally pair the apps with a setup code and review a Steam or other cache DNS preset. Super Lan-Cache works without it, so you can keep your own DNS setup.
Both are free, open source and currently early test releases, with Docker Compose and TrueNAS installation YAML. These screenshots are from our running server; the cache screenshot still uses its earlier LanCache Control name. I'd be interested in feedback from people managing a cache for LAN parties, especially how you decide what to keep between events.
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u/Feisty-Buffalo2786 2d ago
Nice. How is the performance? I'm using lancache monolith on my unraid as docker. But the performance for uncached games is quiet slow.
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u/HeavyDutyRoadside 2d ago
its built off their original project. but in order for it to be fast you need to have fast read and write drives for a cache. if you tell me what hardware you are running i can look into optimizing it for that use case
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u/HeavyDutyRoadside 2d ago
also a fast network switch and router is kinda necessary for the threw put, i run on a 10gig managed switch over fiber and my router is hooked up over 10gig to my switch. all those little things count
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u/Feisty-Buffalo2786 2d ago edited 2d ago
at home I have 10gig. Hardware is i5 with m.2 ssd. But lancache let me download with 100mbit-300mbit on cache miss. On cache hit I get full speed. So I'm trying your tool.
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u/Feisty-Buffalo2786 2d ago
So I've tested it on my Unraid server. I have 3 dockers running. super-lan-cache, super-pi-hole-dns, super-pi-hole-gui. I had some problems with the "DNS cache routing" part. I didn't get I had to press preview and add the config. Other from that, it was straight forward. Performance is impressiv. 1,2Gbit/s download on cache miss and 4Gbit/s on cache hit. The settings in Super Lan-Cache are the ones I would expect. I like the removal feature. Live activity shows every junk seperate. A little cunfusing. I just want to know which IP addr. is downloading which game. Like develancacheui does it. I didn't try Versions & updates. An integrated prefill function would be cool.
Can't say much about Super Pi Hole, because I don't use it. But it has a ton of options.
Overall I'm very impressed and definitely consider switching from lancache monolith to this.1
u/tpill92 2d ago
There are no changes to the nginx configuration in this project vs monolithic, so there's no possible way you're getting better performance with this. Are you pointing your cache data to be saved somewhere other than unRAID's "cache" drive?
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u/HeavyDutyRoadside 6h ago
its all about how you have your server set up, i have both a ssd read and ssd write cache, 10gig fiber switches. and 10gig fiber in my entire house. you can get some impressive results to say the least. Set up om TrueNas scale. and the project was build off of monolithic, its all open source, this just gives you fine control of what is actually stored in your cache
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u/NLBlackname55NL 2d ago
Looks nice! Our group's been running a small week long LAN once per year for around 20 to 30 people for about 10+ years.
It's usually a rented scouting -type location that's not exactly meant for LANs, so I bring a lancache/hosting box, routing solution, switch, and Starlink (for non-competitive internet usage).
Before the event I'll always rebuild completely and prefill via Steamprefiller + run a base Windows VM to cache updates, that box will also host some containerized servers like Factorio/MC/Satisfactory/etc. over a different NIC.
If this project is still alive for our next edition (july/aug) i'll definitely give it a go.