What is Amazon ElastiCache?
Amazon ElastiCache is a fully managed in-memory cache service. It supports the Valkey, Redis OSS, and Memcached engines and enables sub-millisecond latency for read/write operations. ElastiCache handles provisioning, patching, monitoring, and failover handling. ElastiCache Serverless provides a fully serverless mode, or you can run node-based clusters with full control over node type and count.
Valkey is the Linux Foundation-backed open-source fork of Redis that AWS has actively recommended as the primary engine since the Redis licensing changes. Redis OSS and Memcached remain fully supported engines.
Core Features
- Three Engines: Valkey as the recommended open-source engine, Redis OSS for existing Redis workloads, Memcached for simple caching with multi-threading
- Serverless Option: Automatic scaling without node or capacity planning, ready in under a minute
- Multi-AZ Replication: High availability with automatic failover, covered by SLA for Multi-AZ deployments
- Cluster Mode: Horizontal scaling through sharding across multiple nodes
- Encryption: At rest and in transit for sensitive data
Typical Use Cases
Session Store: Store user sessions centrally for horizontal scaling of your web servers. Redis TTL enables automatic session expiration.
Database Query Caching: Reduce database load by caching frequent queries. Response times drop from seconds to milliseconds.
Real-time Leaderboards: Sorted Sets (Valkey/Redis OSS) enable efficient rankings with millions of entries in O(log n) time.
Benefits
- Sub-millisecond latency for fast applications
- Managed service without operational overhead
- Seamless AWS integration with VPC, IAM, and CloudWatch
- More cost-effective than self-managed cache instances beyond a few nodes
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS Reseller, innFactory supports you with Amazon ElastiCache: architecture design, choosing the right engine (Valkey/Redis OSS/Memcached), migration from self-managed cache solutions, performance optimization, and caching strategies for your applications.
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
Frequently Asked Questions
Valkey, Redis OSS, or Memcached: Which engine should I choose?
Valkey and Redis OSS offer advanced data structures, persistence, and Pub/Sub; AWS recommends Valkey as the current open-source engine for new workloads. Memcached is simpler and uses multi-threading. For most new use cases, we recommend Valkey.
What is ElastiCache Serverless?
ElastiCache Serverless scales automatically without node management. You only pay for used storage and throughput. Ideal for variable workloads or when you want to minimize operational overhead.
How does high availability work?
With Multi-AZ deployments, ElastiCache replicates data across Availability Zones. On primary node failure, automatic failover occurs in 30-60 seconds.
Can I migrate from self-managed Redis?
Yes, through online migration with replication or offline migration with RDB backup. AWS Database Migration Service also supports Redis migrations.
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