Redis
In-memory data store for caching, queues and sessions. Redis is an in-memory key-value store with data structures such as strings, lists, hashes, sets and streams. It is used for caching, sessions, rate limiting, queues and pub/sub messaging, and also offers vector search. Its licence changed in 2024, and Valkey is a Linux Foundation fork that many cloud providers now offer.
When it is the right choice
- You need very fast reads for caching or session data
- You need simple queues, rate limiting or pub/sub between services
- You want to cache LLM responses or embeddings to cut cost and latency
- Not a primary database for data you cannot afford to lose without careful persistence settings
How we use it
- Run managed Redis or Valkey, or self-hosted with replication on Kubernetes
- Choose persistence and eviction settings to match how the data is used
- Monitor memory, hit rate and latency with alerts before memory runs out
- Add caching for model responses where repeated requests make it worthwhile
PostgreSQL
Kubernetes
AWS
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Redis or Valkey?
For most uses they are interchangeable. Choose based on licence requirements and what your cloud provider offers; check the current Redis licence for your use.
Can Redis lose data?
Yes, if it restarts without persistence or with infrequent snapshots. Configure persistence appropriately, or treat the data as a rebuildable cache.
Running Redis, or deciding whether to? Tell us what you have; the first consultation is free.
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