compress mysql responses / cache them

[cycomate1]

The servers are on different networks.
It's the only possibility for me to run vB on two webservers with one database (load balancing). I was using ssh to tunnel the sql queries but encryption and compression was too heavy for the machines at high traffic and whenever the ssh tunnel was interrupted the forum I had to check and restart them, which made the forum unusable for some time. A direct mysql connection is far better but insecure?.

So, to get back on topic, is there a way of caching tables or compressing the mysql connection?

?) just to make it clear: I am currently using an ssh tunnel for the communication between the web servers and the database. The traffic for a forum hit is around 350 kB w/o encryption plus ~50 to 75 kB encryption overhead (I disabled the encryption for measuring purpose). I was asking for MYSQL_CLIENT_COMPRESS because I believe letting mysql handle the compression could be better than leaving it to ssh. And there is much unvarying data (forum templates, phrases, ..) that's being transferred over and over each time someone hits the forum. Caching this content on webserver-side would be great.