diff --git a/includes/bootstrap.inc b/includes/bootstrap.inc
index e392c4f6e29a33a33576714017db2c432086c55a..49b7aa1f49dd4897a8e3f6cf42232678bd480cdf 100644
--- a/includes/bootstrap.inc
+++ b/includes/bootstrap.inc
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ function drupal_get_filename($type, $name, $filename = NULL, $check_db = TRUE) {
  */
 function variable_init($conf = array()) {
   // NOTE: caching the variables improves performance by 20% when serving cached pages.
-  if ($cached = cache_get('variables')) {
+  if ($cached = cache_get('variables', 'cache')) {
     $variables = unserialize($cached->data);
   }
   else {
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ function variable_init($conf = array()) {
     while ($variable = db_fetch_object($result)) {
       $variables[$variable->name] = unserialize($variable->value);
     }
-    cache_set('variables', serialize($variables));
+    cache_set('variables', 'cache', serialize($variables));
   }
 
   foreach ($conf as $name => $value) {
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ function variable_set($name, $value) {
   db_query("INSERT INTO {variable} (name, value) VALUES ('%s', '%s')", $name, serialize($value));
   db_unlock_tables();
 
-  cache_clear_all('variables');
+  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
 
   $conf[$name] = $value;
 }
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ function variable_del($name) {
   global $conf;
 
   db_query("DELETE FROM {variable} WHERE name = '%s'", $name);
-  cache_clear_all('variables');
+  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
 
   unset($conf[$name]);
 }
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ function page_get_cache() {
   $cache = NULL;
 
   if (!$user->uid && $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'GET' && count(drupal_set_message()) == 0) {
-    $cache = cache_get($base_root . request_uri());
+    $cache = cache_get($base_root . request_uri(), 'cache_page');
 
     if (empty($cache)) {
       ob_start();
diff --git a/includes/cache.inc b/includes/cache.inc
index 1559d342963a5189c74bc03f8cf139d61efa63f5..3b0b149ffdc00bbefcc819a94a15cafffba707cd 100644
--- a/includes/cache.inc
+++ b/includes/cache.inc
@@ -6,19 +6,22 @@
  *
  * @param $key
  *   The cache ID of the data to retrieve.
+ * @param $table
+ *   The table $table to store the data in. Valid core values are 'cache_filter',
+ *   'cache_menu', 'cache_page', or 'cache' for the default cache.
  */
-function cache_get($key) {
+function cache_get($key, $table = 'cache') {
   global $user;
 
   // Garbage collection necessary when enforcing a minimum cache lifetime
   $cache_flush = variable_get('cache_flush', 0);
   if ($cache_flush && ($cache_flush + variable_get('cache_lifetime', 0) <= time())) {
     // Time to flush old cache data
-    db_query("DELETE FROM {cache} WHERE expire != %d AND expire <= %d", CACHE_PERMANENT, $cache_flush);
+    db_query("DELETE FROM {%s} WHERE expire != %d AND expire <= %d", $table, CACHE_PERMANENT, $cache_flush);
     variable_set('cache_flush', 0);
   }
 
-  $cache = db_fetch_object(db_query("SELECT data, created, headers, expire FROM {cache} WHERE cid = '%s'", $key));
+  $cache = db_fetch_object(db_query("SELECT data, created, headers, expire FROM {%s} WHERE cid = '%s'", $table, $key));
   if (isset($cache->data)) {
     // If the data is permanent or we're not enforcing a minimum cache lifetime
     // always return the cached data.
@@ -47,8 +50,33 @@ function cache_get($key) {
 /**
  * Store data in the persistent cache.
  *
+ * The persistent cache is split up into four database
+ * tables. Contributed modules can add additional tables.
+ *
+ * 'cache_page': This table stores generated pages for anonymous
+ * users. This is the only table affected by the page cache setting on
+ * the administrator panel.
+ *
+ * 'cache_menu': Stores the cachable part of the users' menus.
+ *
+ * 'cache_filter': Stores filtered pieces of content. This table is
+ * periodically cleared of stale entries by cron.
+ *
+ * 'cache': Generic cache storage table.
+ *
+ * The reasons for having several tables are as follows:
+ *
+ * - smaller tables allow for faster selects and inserts
+ * - we try to put fast changing cache items and rather static
+ *   ones into different tables. The effect is that only the fast
+ *   changing tables will need a lot of writes to disk. The more
+ *   static tables will also be better cachable with MySQL's query cache
+ *
  * @param $cid
  *   The cache ID of the data to store.
+ * @param $table
+ *   The table $table to store the data in. Valid core values are 'cache_filter',
+ *   'cache_menu', 'cache_page', or 'cache'.
  * @param $data
  *   The data to store in the cache. Complex data types must be serialized first.
  * @param $expire
@@ -62,29 +90,41 @@ function cache_get($key) {
  * @param $headers
  *   A string containing HTTP header information for cached pages.
  */
-function cache_set($cid, $data, $expire = CACHE_PERMANENT, $headers = NULL) {
-  db_lock_table('cache');
-  db_query("UPDATE {cache} SET data = %b, created = %d, expire = %d, headers = '%s' WHERE cid = '%s'", $data, time(), $expire, $headers, $cid);
+function cache_set($cid, $table = 'cache', $data, $expire = CACHE_PERMANENT, $headers = NULL) {
+  db_lock_table($table);
+  db_query("UPDATE {%s} SET data = '%s', created = %d, expire = %d, headers = '%s' WHERE cid = '%s'", $table, $data, time(), $expire, $headers, $cid);
   if (!db_affected_rows()) {
-    @db_query("INSERT INTO {cache} (cid, data, created, expire, headers) VALUES ('%s', %b, %d, %d, '%s')", $cid, $data, time(), $expire, $headers);
+    @db_query("INSERT INTO {%s} (cid, data, created, expire, headers) VALUES ('%s', '%s', %d, %d, '%s')", $table, $cid, $data, time(), $expire, $headers);
   }
   db_unlock_tables();
 }
 
 /**
- * Expire data from the cache.
+ *
+ * Expire data from the cache. If called without arguments, expirable
+ * entries will be cleared from the cache_page table.
  *
  * @param $cid
  *   If set, the cache ID to delete. Otherwise, all cache entries that can
  *   expire are deleted.
  *
+ * @param $table
+ *   If set, the table $table to delete from. Mandatory
+ *   argument if $cid is set.
+ *
  * @param $wildcard
- *   If set to TRUE, the $cid is treated as a substring to match rather than a
- *   complete ID.
+ *   If set to TRUE, the $cid is treated as a substring
+ *   to match rather than a complete ID. The match is a right hand
+ *   match. If '*' is given as $cid, the table $table will be emptied.
  */
-function cache_clear_all($cid = NULL, $wildcard = FALSE) {
+function cache_clear_all($cid = NULL, $table = NULL, $wildcard = FALSE) {
   global $user;
 
+  if (!isset($cid) && !isset($table)) {
+    cache_clear_all(NULL, 'cache_page');
+    return;
+  }
+
   if (empty($cid)) {
     if (variable_get('cache_lifetime', 0)) {
       // We store the time in the current user's $user->cache variable which
@@ -101,21 +141,26 @@ function cache_clear_all($cid = NULL, $wildcard = FALSE) {
       else if (time() > ($cache_flush + variable_get('cache_lifetime', 0))) {
         // Clear the cache for everyone, cache_flush_delay seconds have
         // passed since the first request to clear the cache.
-        db_query("DELETE FROM {cache} WHERE expire != %d AND expire < %d", CACHE_PERMANENT, time());
+        db_query("DELETE FROM {%s} WHERE expire != %d AND expire < %d", $table, CACHE_PERMANENT, time());
         variable_set('cache_flush', 0);
       }
     }
     else {
       // No minimum cache lifetime, flush all temporary cache entries now.
-      db_query("DELETE FROM {cache} WHERE expire != %d AND expire < %d", CACHE_PERMANENT, time());
+      db_query("DELETE FROM {%s} WHERE expire != %d AND expire < %d", $table, CACHE_PERMANENT, time());
     }
   }
   else {
     if ($wildcard) {
-      db_query("DELETE FROM {cache} WHERE cid LIKE '%%%s%%'", $cid);
+      if ($cid == '*') {
+        db_query("TRUNCATE TABLE {%s}", $table);
+      }
+      else {
+        db_query("DELETE FROM {%s} WHERE cid LIKE '%s%%'", $table, $cid);
+      }
     }
     else {
-      db_query("DELETE FROM {cache} WHERE cid = '%s'", $cid);
+      db_query("DELETE FROM {%s} WHERE cid = '%s'", $table, $cid);
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/includes/common.inc b/includes/common.inc
index 4ab0e2e57bd0c03c89e652934e424adc84c3f14d..90c620c63e0c086464f9dc6f9a09e146706dd342 100644
--- a/includes/common.inc
+++ b/includes/common.inc
@@ -1597,7 +1597,7 @@ function page_set_cache() {
       }
       ob_end_flush();
       if ($cache && $data) {
-        cache_set($base_root . request_uri(), $data, CACHE_TEMPORARY, drupal_get_headers());
+        cache_set($base_root . request_uri(), 'cache_page', $data, CACHE_TEMPORARY, drupal_get_headers());
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/includes/locale.inc b/includes/locale.inc
index 5c63c5443a6fec848cec81d0661896d0edf03251..0b2c5a33341bf029fb781b3a3aa75ba1b5e9d9ad 100644
--- a/includes/locale.inc
+++ b/includes/locale.inc
@@ -119,7 +119,8 @@ function _locale_admin_manage_screen_submit($form_id, $form_values) {
   drupal_set_message(t('Configuration saved.'));
 
   // Changing the locale settings impacts the interface:
-  cache_clear_all();
+  cache_clear_all('*', 'cache_menu', TRUE);
+  cache_clear_all('*', 'cache_page', TRUE);
 
   return 'admin/settings/locale/language/overview';
 }
@@ -486,7 +487,7 @@ function _locale_import_po($file, $lang, $mode) {
   }
 
   // rebuild locale cache
-  cache_clear_all("locale:$lang");
+  cache_clear_all("locale:$lang", 'cache');
 
   // rebuild the menu, strings may have changed
   menu_rebuild();
diff --git a/includes/menu.inc b/includes/menu.inc
index e566981767092d79a6a0749de03b001287c34922..b7bf2930f91403dba497e4891faac529eb7b9444 100644
--- a/includes/menu.inc
+++ b/includes/menu.inc
@@ -206,14 +206,14 @@ function menu_get_menu() {
     // _menu_build() may indirectly call this function, so prevent infinite loops.
     $_menu['items'] = array();
 
-    $cid = "menu:$user->uid:$locale";
-    if ($cached = cache_get($cid)) {
+    $cid = "$user->uid:$locale";
+    if ($cached = cache_get($cid, 'cache_menu')) {
       $_menu = unserialize($cached->data);
     }
     else {
       _menu_build();
       // Cache the menu structure for this user, to expire after one day.
-      cache_set($cid, serialize($_menu), time() + (60 * 60 * 24));
+      cache_set($cid, 'cache_menu', serialize($_menu), time() + (60 * 60 * 24));
     }
 
     // Make sure items that cannot be cached are added.
@@ -585,9 +585,9 @@ function menu_in_active_trail_in_submenu($mid, $pid) {
  */
 function menu_rebuild() {
   // Clear the page cache, so that changed menus are reflected for anonymous users.
-  cache_clear_all();
+  cache_clear_all('*', 'cache_page', TRUE);
   // Also clear the menu cache.
-  cache_clear_all('menu:', TRUE);
+  cache_clear_all('*', 'cache_menu', TRUE);
 
   _menu_build();
 
diff --git a/modules/filter/filter.module b/modules/filter/filter.module
index ba0628a06f1734ae4ec4e34182e7935c212c26bd..e32ff4149b2543f8c7c3b6b0927eff7b5efa3a62 100644
--- a/modules/filter/filter.module
+++ b/modules/filter/filter.module
@@ -148,6 +148,15 @@ function filter_perm() {
   return array('administer filters');
 }
 
+/**
+ * Implementation of hook_cron().
+ *
+ * Expire outdated filter cache entries
+ */
+function filter_cron() {
+  cache_clear_all(NULL, 'cache_filter');
+}
+
 /**
  * Implementation of hook_filter_tips().
  */
@@ -388,7 +397,7 @@ function filter_admin_delete_submit($form_id, $form_values) {
   db_query("UPDATE {comments} SET format = %d WHERE format = %d", $default, $form_values['format']);
   db_query("UPDATE {boxes} SET format = %d WHERE format = %d", $default, $form_values['format']);
 
-  cache_clear_all('filter:'. $form_values['format'], TRUE);
+  cache_clear_all($form_values['format'] .':', 'cache_filter', TRUE);
   drupal_set_message(t('Deleted input format %format.', array('%format' => $form_values['name'])));
 
   return 'admin/settings/filters';
@@ -524,7 +533,7 @@ function filter_admin_format_form_submit($form_id, $form_values) {
 
   db_query("UPDATE {filter_formats} SET cache = %d, name='%s', roles = '%s' WHERE format = %d", $cache, $name, $roles, $format);
 
-  cache_clear_all('filter:'. $format, TRUE);
+  cache_clear_all($format .':', 'cache_filter', TRUE);
 
   // If a new filter was added, return to the main list of filters. Otherwise, stay on edit filter page to show new changes.
   if ($new) {
@@ -582,7 +591,7 @@ function filter_admin_order_submit($form_id, $form_values) {
   }
   drupal_set_message(t('The filter ordering has been saved.'));
 
-  cache_clear_all('filter:'. $form_values['format'], TRUE);
+  cache_clear_all($form_values['format'] .':', 'cache_filter', TRUE);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -747,8 +756,8 @@ function check_markup($text, $format = FILTER_FORMAT_DEFAULT, $check = TRUE) {
     $format = filter_resolve_format($format);
 
     // Check for a cached version of this piece of text.
-    $id = 'filter:'. $format .':'. md5($text);
-    if ($cached = cache_get($id)) {
+    $id = $format .':'. md5($text);
+    if ($cached = cache_get($id, 'cache_filter')) {
       return $cached->data;
     }
 
@@ -774,7 +783,7 @@ function check_markup($text, $format = FILTER_FORMAT_DEFAULT, $check = TRUE) {
 
     // Store in cache with a minimum expiration time of 1 day.
     if ($cache) {
-      cache_set($id, $text, time() + (60 * 60 * 24));
+      cache_set($id, 'cache_filter', $text, time() + (60 * 60 * 24));
     }
   }
   else {
diff --git a/modules/locale/locale.module b/modules/locale/locale.module
index 555e4cafc2da1652192e1c9c1749503b86e3f68b..abe3db05694cda3aa1d1e1d1e12f127e3ac7aba6 100644
--- a/modules/locale/locale.module
+++ b/modules/locale/locale.module
@@ -181,11 +181,11 @@ function locale($string) {
 
   // Store database cached translations in a static var.
   if (!isset($locale_t)) {
-    $cache = cache_get("locale:$locale");
+    $cache = cache_get("locale:$locale", 'cache');
 
     if (!$cache) {
       locale_refresh_cache();
-      $cache = cache_get("locale:$locale");
+      $cache = cache_get("locale:$locale", 'cache');
     }
     $locale_t = unserialize($cache->data);
   }
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ function locale($string) {
         }
       }
       // Clear locale cache in DB
-      cache_clear_all("locale:$locale");
+      cache_clear_all("locale:$locale", 'cache');
     }
   }
 
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ function locale_refresh_cache() {
     while ($data = db_fetch_object($result)) {
       $t[$data->source] = (empty($data->translation) ? TRUE : $data->translation);
     }
-    cache_set("locale:$locale", serialize($t));
+    cache_set("locale:$locale", 'cache', serialize($t));
   }
 }
 
@@ -357,7 +357,8 @@ function locale_admin_manage_delete_form_submit($form_id, $form_values) {
   }
 
   // Changing the locale settings impacts the interface:
-  cache_clear_all();
+  cache_clear_all('*', 'cache_menu', TRUE);
+  cache_clear_all('*', 'cache_page', TRUE);
 
   return 'admin/settings/locale/language/overview';
 }
diff --git a/modules/node/content_types.inc b/modules/node/content_types.inc
index 6e0fb0d7fc6de538308f03bb9233a1c881a20038..307346e1211426b0221c569a5db36f7a5efd7879 100644
--- a/modules/node/content_types.inc
+++ b/modules/node/content_types.inc
@@ -281,7 +281,6 @@ function node_type_form_submit($form_id, $form_values) {
 
       if ($update_count) {
         drupal_set_message(t('Changed the content type of %update_count %posts from %old_type to %type.', array('%update_count' => $update_count, '%posts' => format_plural($update_count, 'post', 'posts'), '%old_type' => $type->old_type, '%type' => $type->type)));
-        cache_clear_all('filter:', TRUE);
       }
     }
   }
@@ -318,8 +317,8 @@ function node_type_form_submit($form_id, $form_values) {
   }
 
   node_types_rebuild();
+  // menu_rebuild clears the cache, too
   menu_rebuild();
-  cache_clear_all();
   $t_args = array('%name' => $type->name);
 
   if ($op == t('Reset to defaults')) {
diff --git a/modules/system/system.install b/modules/system/system.install
index ac8aebaa00f54d8aa9de49987e1bf589af43191a..b0ebbe7ca0c332edd1c8305977191b08a7ebf5e3 100644
--- a/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/modules/system/system.install
@@ -54,6 +54,33 @@ function system_install() {
         PRIMARY KEY (cid),
         INDEX expire (expire)
       ) /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8 */ ");
+      db_query("CREATE TABLE {cache_filter} (
+        cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+        data longblob,
+        expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+        created int NOT NULL default '0',
+        headers text,
+        PRIMARY KEY (cid),
+        INDEX expire (expire)
+      ) /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8 */ ");
+      db_query("CREATE TABLE {cache_menu} (
+        cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+        data longblob,
+        expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+        created int NOT NULL default '0',
+        headers text,
+        PRIMARY KEY (cid),
+        INDEX expire (expire)
+      ) /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8 */ ");
+      db_query("CREATE TABLE {cache_page} (
+        cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+        data longblob,
+        expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+        created int NOT NULL default '0',
+        headers text,
+        PRIMARY KEY (cid),
+        INDEX expire (expire)
+      ) /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8 */ ");
 
       db_query("CREATE TABLE {comments} (
         cid int NOT NULL auto_increment,
@@ -455,7 +482,34 @@ function system_install() {
         headers text,
         PRIMARY KEY (cid)
       )");
+      db_query("CREATE TABLE {cache_filter} (
+        cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+        data bytea,
+        expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+        created int NOT NULL default '0',
+        headers text,
+        PRIMARY KEY (cid)
+      )");
+      db_query("CREATE TABLE {cache_menu} (
+        cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+        data bytea,
+        expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+        created int NOT NULL default '0',
+        headers text,
+        PRIMARY KEY (cid)
+      )");
+      db_query("CREATE TABLE {cache_page} (
+        cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+        data bytea,
+        expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+        created int NOT NULL default '0',
+        headers text,
+        PRIMARY KEY (cid)
+      )");
       db_query("CREATE INDEX {cache}_expire_idx ON {cache} (expire)");
+      db_query("CREATE INDEX {cache}_expire_idx ON {cache_filter} (expire)");
+      db_query("CREATE INDEX {cache}_expire_idx ON {cache_menu} (expire)");
+      db_query("CREATE INDEX {cache}_expire_idx ON {cache_page} (expire)");
 
       db_query("CREATE TABLE {comments} (
         cid serial,
@@ -3107,6 +3161,72 @@ function system_update_1008() {
   return $ret;
 }
 
+function system_update_1009() {
+ $ret = array();
+ switch ($GLOBALS['db_type']) {
+   case 'mysql':
+   case 'mysqli':
+     $ret[] = update_sql("CREATE TABLE {cache_filter} (
+       cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+       data longblob,
+       expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+       created int NOT NULL default '0',
+       headers text,
+       PRIMARY KEY (cid),
+       INDEX expire (expire)
+     ) /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8 */ ");
+     $ret[] = update_sql("CREATE TABLE {cache_menu} (
+       cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+       data longblob,
+       expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+       created int NOT NULL default '0',
+       headers text,
+       PRIMARY KEY (cid),
+       INDEX expire (expire)
+     ) /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8 */ ");
+     $ret[] = update_sql("CREATE TABLE {cache_page} (
+       cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+       data longblob,
+       expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+       created int NOT NULL default '0',
+       headers text,
+       PRIMARY KEY (cid),
+       INDEX expire (expire)
+     ) /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8 */ ");
+     break;
+   case 'pgsql':
+     $ret[] = update_sql("CREATE TABLE {cache_filter} (
+       cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+       data bytea,
+       expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+       created int NOT NULL default '0',
+       headers text,
+       PRIMARY KEY (cid)
+     )");
+     $ret[] = update_sql("CREATE TABLE {cache_menu} (
+       cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+       data bytea,
+       expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+       created int NOT NULL default '0',
+       headers text,
+       PRIMARY KEY (cid)
+     )");
+     $ret[] = update_sql("CREATE TABLE {cache_page} (
+       cid varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
+       data bytea,
+       expire int NOT NULL default '0',
+       created int NOT NULL default '0',
+       headers text,
+       PRIMARY KEY (cid)
+     )");
+     $ret[] = update_sql("CREATE INDEX {cache}_expire_idx ON {cache_filter} (expire)");
+     $ret[] = update_sql("CREATE INDEX {cache}_expire_idx ON {cache_menu} (expire)");
+     $ret[] = update_sql("CREATE INDEX {cache}_expire_idx ON {cache_page} (expire)");
+     break;
+ }
+ return $ret;
+}
+
 /**
  * @} End of "defgroup updates-4.7-to-x.x"
  * The next series of updates should start at 2000.
diff --git a/modules/user/user.module b/modules/user/user.module
index 54f279d606bc3f90c0a12fc15b7c937a71edd41a..32eb5c0ba62d57495ccfe941342beed2a5628942 100644
--- a/modules/user/user.module
+++ b/modules/user/user.module
@@ -1461,7 +1461,7 @@ function user_edit_submit($form_id, $form_values) {
   user_module_invoke('submit', $form_values, $account, $category);
   user_save($account, $form_values, $category);
   // Delete that user's menu cache.
-  cache_clear_all('menu:'. $account->uid, TRUE);
+  cache_clear_all($account->uid .':', 'cache_menu', TRUE);
   drupal_set_message(t('The changes have been saved.'));
   return 'user/'. $account->uid;
 }
@@ -2065,7 +2065,7 @@ function user_admin_account_submit($form_id, $edit) {
     }
     call_user_func_array($function, $args);
 
-    cache_clear_all();
+    cache_clear_all('*', 'cache_menu', TRUE);
     drupal_set_message(t('The update has been performed.'));
   }
 }