Most forums pull their templates directly from the database. MYSQL is optimized to answer queries quite quickly, but considering that the average page here is comprised of 14 different templates, that's quite a bit of unnecessary load.

We are now operating on a proprietary template caching system that takes all used templates from the database and saves them locally. As they are updated or modified, the cache is cleared to make way for the new version. All pages on our site are now pre-rendered by combining the various templates into a complete page. This page is the pulled from the file system when someone makes a request.

We're seeing about a 10-15% improvement in page response... results will vary. Since the cached templates are duplicates of what appears in the database, you shouldn't notice any difference in site functionality. Should you stumble upon any bugs, please feel free to respond to this thread.