diff --git a/kong-0.9.2-0.rockspec b/kong-0.9.2-0.rockspec
index 8f8401eabe8..3a1a274547c 100644
--- a/kong-0.9.2-0.rockspec
+++ b/kong-0.9.2-0.rockspec
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ dependencies = {
   "lua-resty-iputils == 0.2.1",
   "luacrypto == 0.3.2",
   "luasyslog == 1.0.0",
-  "lua_pack == 1.0.4"
+  "lua_pack == 1.0.4",
+  "lua-resty-worker-events == 0.2.0"
 }
 build = {
   type = "builtin",
diff --git a/kong/api/routes/cache.lua b/kong/api/routes/cache.lua
index 13da89dcab6..131e8d4670a 100644
--- a/kong/api/routes/cache.lua
+++ b/kong/api/routes/cache.lua
@@ -30,4 +30,4 @@ return {
       return responses.send_HTTP_NOT_FOUND()
     end
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kong/api/routes/cluster.lua b/kong/api/routes/cluster.lua
index 10489f6a1ee..e4ba7e41af6 100644
--- a/kong/api/routes/cluster.lua
+++ b/kong/api/routes/cluster.lua
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 local singletons = require "kong.singletons"
 local responses = require "kong.tools.responses"
+local constants = require "kong.constants"
+local ev = require "resty.worker.events"
 
 local pairs = pairs
 local table_insert = table.insert
@@ -60,7 +62,9 @@ return {
       local message_t = self.params
 
       -- The type is always upper case
-      if message_t.type then
+      if not message_t or not message_t.type then
+        return responses.send_HTTP_BAD_REQUEST()
+      else
         message_t.type = string_upper(message_t.type)
       end
 
@@ -88,9 +92,9 @@ return {
       end
 
       -- Trigger event in the node
-      singletons.events:publish(message_t.type, message_t)
+      ev.post(constants.CACHE.CLUSTER, message_t.type, message_t)
 
       return responses.send_HTTP_OK()
     end
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kong/constants.lua b/kong/constants.lua
index 063fd01797f..f580f3d1c98 100644
--- a/kong/constants.lua
+++ b/kong/constants.lua
@@ -41,5 +41,8 @@ return {
   SYSLOG = {
     ADDRESS = "kong-hf.mashape.com",
     PORT = 61828
+  },
+  CACHE = {
+    CLUSTER = "cluster"
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kong/core/cluster.lua b/kong/core/cluster.lua
index 51c73fbc61e..0b5f5cd49b2 100644
--- a/kong/core/cluster.lua
+++ b/kong/core/cluster.lua
@@ -55,11 +55,11 @@ local function async_autojoin(premature)
     end
 
     -- Create retries counter key if it doesn't exist
-    if not cache.get(cache.autojoin_retries_key()) then
-      cache.rawset(cache.autojoin_retries_key(), 0)
+    if not cache.sh_get(cache.autojoin_retries_key()) then
+      cache.sh_set(cache.autojoin_retries_key(), 0)
     end
 
-    local autojoin_retries = cache.incr(cache.autojoin_retries_key(), 1) -- Increment retries counter
+    local autojoin_retries = cache.sh_incr(cache.autojoin_retries_key(), 1) -- Increment retries counter
     if (autojoin_retries < ASYNC_AUTOJOIN_RETRIES) then
       create_timer(ASYNC_AUTOJOIN_INTERVAL, async_autojoin)
     end
diff --git a/kong/core/reports.lua b/kong/core/reports.lua
index 1f9cba47b83..08529c01eb0 100644
--- a/kong/core/reports.lua
+++ b/kong/core/reports.lua
@@ -121,11 +121,11 @@ ping_handler = function(premature)
   elseif elapsed == 0 then
     send {
       signal = "ping",
-      requests = cache.get(cache.requests_key()) or 0,
+      requests = cache.sh_get(cache.requests_key()) or 0,
       unique_id = unique_str,
       database = singletons.configuration.database
     }
-    cache.rawset(cache.requests_key(), 0)
+    cache.sh_set(cache.requests_key(), 0)
   end
 
   create_ping_timer()
@@ -137,12 +137,12 @@ return {
   -----------------
   init_worker = function()
     if not enabled then return end
-    cache.rawset(cache.requests_key(), 0)
+    cache.sh_set(cache.requests_key(), 0)
     create_ping_timer()
   end,
   log = function()
     if not enabled then return end
-    cache.incr(cache.requests_key(), 1)
+    cache.sh_incr(cache.requests_key(), 1)
   end,
   -----------------
   -- custom methods
@@ -153,4 +153,4 @@ return {
   get_system_infos = get_system_infos,
   send = send,
   api_signal = "api"
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kong/kong.lua b/kong/kong.lua
index 1b65431ee08..da1ba4297e8 100644
--- a/kong/kong.lua
+++ b/kong/kong.lua
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ local core = require "kong.core.handler"
 local Serf = require "kong.serf"
 local utils = require "kong.tools.utils"
 local Events = require "kong.core.events"
+local constants = require "kong.constants"
 local singletons = require "kong.singletons"
 local DAOFactory = require "kong.dao.factory"
 local plugins_iterator = require "kong.core.plugins_iterator"
@@ -147,6 +148,28 @@ function Kong.init_worker()
   for _, plugin in ipairs(singletons.loaded_plugins) do
     plugin.handler:init_worker()
   end
+
+  local ev = require "resty.worker.events"
+  local handler = function(data, event, source, pid)
+    if source and source == constants.CACHE.CLUSTER then
+      singletons.events:publish(event, data)
+    end
+  end
+
+  ev.register(handler)
+
+  local ok, err = ev.configure {
+      shm = "process_events", -- defined by "lua_shared_dict"
+      timeout = 2,            -- life time of event data in shm
+      interval = 1,           -- poll interval (seconds)
+
+      wait_interval = 0.010,  -- wait before retry fetching event data
+      wait_max = 0.5,         -- max wait time before discarding event
+  }
+  if not ok then
+      ngx.log(ngx.ERR, "failed to start event system: ", err)
+      return
+  end
 end
 
 function Kong.ssl_certificate()
@@ -193,4 +216,4 @@ function Kong.log()
   core.log.after()
 end
 
-return Kong
+return Kong
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kong/meta.lua b/kong/meta.lua
index 6acc80e4705..5f1c5fb225b 100644
--- a/kong/meta.lua
+++ b/kong/meta.lua
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ return {
   -- to lua-version's `set()` in the form {from, to}
   _DEPENDENCIES = {
     nginx = {"1.9.15.1", "1.11.2.1"},
-    serf = {"0.7.0", "0.7.0"},
+    serf = {"0.7.0", "0.8.0"},
     --resty = {}, -- not version dependent for now
     --dnsmasq = {} -- not version dependent for now
   }
diff --git a/kong/plugins/rate-limiting/policies.lua b/kong/plugins/rate-limiting/policies.lua
index 22b8f56530a..f25e8c110e8 100644
--- a/kong/plugins/rate-limiting/policies.lua
+++ b/kong/plugins/rate-limiting/policies.lua
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ return {
       local periods = timestamp.get_timestamps(current_timestamp)
       for period, period_date in pairs(periods) do
         local cache_key = get_local_key(api_id, identifier, period_date, period)
-        if not cache.rawget(cache_key) then
-          cache.rawset(cache_key, 0, EXPIRATIONS[period])
+        if not cache.sh_get(cache_key) then
+          cache.sh_set(cache_key, 0, EXPIRATIONS[period])
         end
 
-        local _, err = cache.incr(cache_key, value)
+        local _, err = cache.sh_incr(cache_key, value)
         if err then
           ngx_log("[rate-limiting] could not increment counter for period '"..period.."': "..tostring(err))
         end
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ return {
     usage = function(conf, api_id, identifier, current_timestamp, name)
       local periods = timestamp.get_timestamps(current_timestamp)
       local cache_key = get_local_key(api_id, identifier, periods[name], name)
-      local current_metric, err = cache.rawget(cache_key)
+      local current_metric, err = cache.sh_get(cache_key)
       if err then
         return nil, err
       end
@@ -138,4 +138,4 @@ return {
       return current_metric and current_metric or 0
     end
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kong/plugins/response-ratelimiting/policies.lua b/kong/plugins/response-ratelimiting/policies.lua
index a726d86631f..3afc0ad4af7 100644
--- a/kong/plugins/response-ratelimiting/policies.lua
+++ b/kong/plugins/response-ratelimiting/policies.lua
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ return {
       local periods = timestamp.get_timestamps(current_timestamp)
       for period, period_date in pairs(periods) do
         local cache_key = get_local_key(api_id, identifier, period_date, name, period)
-        if not cache.rawget(cache_key) then
-          cache.rawset(cache_key, 0, EXPIRATIONS[period])
+        if not cache.sh_get(cache_key) then
+          cache.sh_set(cache_key, 0, EXPIRATIONS[period])
         end
 
-        local _, err = cache.incr(cache_key, value)
+        local _, err = cache.sh_incr(cache_key, value)
         if err then
           ngx_log("[rate-limiting] could not increment counter for period '"..period.."': "..tostring(err))
         end
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ return {
     usage = function(conf, api_id, identifier, current_timestamp, period, name)
       local periods = timestamp.get_timestamps(current_timestamp)
       local cache_key = get_local_key(api_id, identifier, periods[period], name, period)
-      local current_metric, err = cache.rawget(cache_key)
+      local current_metric, err = cache.sh_get(cache_key)
       if err then
         return nil, err
       end
diff --git a/kong/templates/nginx_kong.lua b/kong/templates/nginx_kong.lua
index cea3da82161..4c1eba6e2f1 100644
--- a/kong/templates/nginx_kong.lua
+++ b/kong/templates/nginx_kong.lua
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ lua_shared_dict reports_locks 100k;
 lua_shared_dict cluster_locks 100k;
 lua_shared_dict cluster_autojoin_locks 100k;
 lua_shared_dict cache_locks 100k;
+lua_shared_dict process_events 1m;
 lua_shared_dict cassandra 1m;
 lua_shared_dict cassandra_prepared 5m;
 lua_socket_log_errors off;
diff --git a/kong/tools/database_cache.lua b/kong/tools/database_cache.lua
index 79ce573dad1..df1d8d6f15d 100644
--- a/kong/tools/database_cache.lua
+++ b/kong/tools/database_cache.lua
@@ -25,43 +25,111 @@ local CACHE_KEYS = {
 
 local _M = {}
 
-function _M.rawset(key, value, exptime)
+-- Shared Dictionary
+
+function _M.sh_set(key, value, exptime)
   return cache:set(key, value, exptime or 0)
 end
 
-function _M.set(key, value)
-  if value then
-    value = cjson.encode(value)
-  end
+function _M.sh_incr(key, value)
+  return cache:incr(key, value)
+end
+
+function _M.sh_get(key, value)
+  return cache:get(key, value)
+end
 
-  return _M.rawset(key, value)
+function _M.sh_delete(key)
+  cache:delete(key)
 end
 
-function _M.rawget(key)
-  return cache:get(key)
+function _M.sh_delete_all()
+  cache:flush_all() -- This does not free up the memory, only marks the items as expired
+  cache:flush_expired() -- This does actually remove the elements from the memory
+end
+
+-- Local Memory
+
+local DATA = {}
+
+function _M.set(key, value)
+  DATA[key] = value
+
+  -- Save into Shared Dictionary
+  local _, err = _M.sh_set(key, cjson.encode(value))
+  if err then return nil, err end
+
+  return true
 end
 
 function _M.get(key)
-  local value, flags = _M.rawget(key)
-  if value then
-    value = cjson.decode(value)
+  local value = DATA[key]
+  
+  -- Get from Shared Dictionary
+  if value == nil then
+    value = _M.sh_get(key)
+    if value ~= nil then 
+      value = cjson.decode(value) 
+    end
   end
-  return value, flags
-end
 
-function _M.incr(key, value)
-  return cache:incr(key, value)
+  return value
 end
 
 function _M.delete(key)
-  cache:delete(key)
+  DATA[key] = nil
+  _M.sh_delete(key)
 end
 
 function _M.delete_all()
-  cache:flush_all() -- This does not free up the memory, only marks the items as expired
-  cache:flush_expired() -- This does actually remove the elements from the memory
+  DATA = {}
+  _M.sh_delete_all()
 end
 
+function _M.get_or_set(key, cb)
+  -- Try to get the value from the cache
+  local value = _M.get(key)
+  if value then return value end
+
+  local lock, err = resty_lock:new("cache_locks", {
+    exptime = 10,
+    timeout = 5
+  })
+  if not lock then
+    ngx_log(ngx.ERR, "could not create lock: ", err)
+    return
+  end
+
+  -- The value is missing, acquire a lock
+  local elapsed, err = lock:lock(key)
+  if not elapsed then
+    ngx_log(ngx.ERR, "failed to acquire cache lock: ", err)
+  end
+
+  -- Lock acquired. Since in the meantime another worker may have
+  -- populated the value we have to check again
+  value = _M.get(key)
+  if not value then
+    -- Get from closure
+    value = cb()
+    if value then
+      local ok, err = _M.set(key, value)
+      if not ok then
+        ngx_log(ngx.ERR, err)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  local ok, err = lock:unlock()
+  if not ok and err then
+    ngx_log(ngx.ERR, "failed to unlock: ", err)
+  end
+
+  return value
+end
+
+-- Utility Functions
+
 function _M.requests_key()
   return CACHE_KEYS.REQUESTS
 end
@@ -126,46 +194,4 @@ function _M.all_apis_by_dict_key()
   return CACHE_KEYS.ALL_APIS_BY_DIC
 end
 
-function _M.get_or_set(key, cb)
-  -- Try to get the value from the cache
-  local value = _M.get(key)
-  if value then return value end
-
-  local lock, err = resty_lock:new("cache_locks", {
-    exptime = 10,
-    timeout = 5
-  })
-  if not lock then
-    ngx_log(ngx.ERR, "could not create lock: ", err)
-    return
-  end
-
-  -- The value is missing, acquire a lock
-  local elapsed, err = lock:lock(key)
-  if not elapsed then
-    ngx_log(ngx.ERR, "failed to acquire cache lock: ", err)
-  end
-
-  -- Lock acquired. Since in the meantime another worker may have
-  -- populated the value we have to check again
-  value = _M.get(key)
-  if not value then
-    -- Get from closure
-    value = cb()
-    if value then
-      local ok, err = _M.set(key, value)
-      if not ok then
-        ngx_log(ngx.ERR, err)
-      end
-    end
-  end
-
-  local ok, err = lock:unlock()
-  if not ok and err then
-    ngx_log(ngx.ERR, "failed to unlock: ", err)
-  end
-
-  return value
-end
-
-return _M
+return _M
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/02-integration/03-admin_api/06-cluster_routes_spec.lua b/spec/02-integration/03-admin_api/06-cluster_routes_spec.lua
index de9bccbb34f..d211b1e84e2 100644
--- a/spec/02-integration/03-admin_api/06-cluster_routes_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/02-integration/03-admin_api/06-cluster_routes_spec.lua
@@ -5,12 +5,16 @@ describe("Admin API", function()
   local client
   setup(function()
     assert(helpers.start_kong())
-    client = helpers.admin_client()
   end)
   teardown(function()
-    if client then client:close() end
     helpers.stop_kong()
   end)
+  before_each(function()
+    client = helpers.admin_client()
+  end)
+  after_each(function()
+    if client then client:close() end
+  end)
 
   describe("/cluster", function()
     describe("GET", function()
@@ -116,16 +120,24 @@ describe("Admin API", function()
 
   describe("/cluster/events", function()
     describe("POST", function()
-      it("posts a new event", function()
-        -- old test simply converted
+      it("fails with an invalid event", function()
         local res = assert(client:send {
           method = "POST",
           path = "/cluster/events",
           body = {},
           headers = {["Content-Type"] = "application/json"}
         })
+        assert.res_status(400, res)
+      end)
+      it("posts a new event", function()
+        local res = assert(client:send {
+          method = "POST",
+          path = "/cluster/events",
+          body = { type = "hello" },
+          headers = {["Content-Type"] = "application/json"}
+        })
         assert.res_status(200, res)
       end)
     end)
   end)
-end)
+end)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/kong/plugins/database-cache/handler.lua b/spec/fixtures/kong/plugins/database-cache/handler.lua
index cb393d9cd18..b21fea1c901 100644
--- a/spec/fixtures/kong/plugins/database-cache/handler.lua
+++ b/spec/fixtures/kong/plugins/database-cache/handler.lua
@@ -15,21 +15,21 @@ end
 function DatabaseCacheHandler:init_worker()
   DatabaseCacheHandler.super.init_worker(self)
 
-  cache.rawset(INVOCATIONS, 0)
-  cache.rawset(LOOKUPS, 0)
+  cache.sh_set(INVOCATIONS, 0)
+  cache.sh_set(LOOKUPS, 0)
 end
 
 function DatabaseCacheHandler:access(conf)
   DatabaseCacheHandler.super.access(self)
 
   cache.get_or_set("pile_effect", function()
-    cache.incr(LOOKUPS, 1)
+    cache.sh_incr(LOOKUPS, 1)
     -- Adds some delay
     ngx.sleep(tonumber(ngx.req.get_uri_args().sleep))
     return true
   end)
 
-  cache.incr(INVOCATIONS, 1)
+  cache.sh_incr(INVOCATIONS, 1)
 end
 
-return DatabaseCacheHandler
+return DatabaseCacheHandler
\ No newline at end of file