getting rid of node.kernel.modules and pnp_drivers makes huge difference is node size

chef_yaml_cache.rb

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
require 'bundler/setup'  
require 'pp'
require 'yaml'
require 'chef'

def create_chef_cache
  Chef::Config.from_file(".chef/knife.rb")  
  out = Mash.new
  @cq = Chef::Search::Query.new
  puts @cq.list_indexes.keys.inspect
  @cq.list_indexes.keys.each do |index|
    puts index
    out[index]=[]
    @cq.search(index,"*:*") do |entry|
      if index == 'node' 
        entry['kernel'].delete 'modules'
        entry['kernel'].delete 'pnp_drivers'
      end
      out[index] << entry #.to_hash might make it less dependent on chef
    end  
  end
  File.open('chef_cache.yml', 'w') {|f| f.write(out.to_yaml)}
  @chef_cache = out
end

def load_chef_cache
  @chef_cache = YAML.load(File.open('chef_cache.yml').read)
end

# chef_cache.yml size in bytes:
# 3153354  # before deleting modules/pnp_drivers
#  432344 # afterwards
# Just the 2.5meg in xfer alone will make /status and friends run much faster

recipe_less_info.rb

# This stuff can take up 10 times the amount of data
# as the entire rest of the node... we don't need it 

['pnp_drivers', 'modules'].each do |extraneous_info|
  node.automatic['kernel'].delete extraneous_info
end