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Amazon ElastiCache
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<h2 id="uses">Uses</h2> <p>As a managed database service with multiple supported engines, Amazon ElastiCache has a wide range of uses, including </p> <h3>Performance acceleration</h3> <p>Database limitations are often a bottleneck for application performance. By placing Amazon ElastiCache between an <a href="/facts/Application_software/YQuj7Kog">application</a> and its database <a href="/facts/Multitier_architecture/cUTM2sU9">tier</a>, database operations can be accelerated.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h3>Cost reduction</h3> <p>Using ElastiCache for database performance acceleration can significantly reduce the infrastructure needed to support the database. In many cases, the cost savings outweigh the cache costs. <a href="/facts/Expedia/1Nj3R1Q1">Expedia</a> was able to use ElastiCache to reduce provisioned DynamoDB capacity by 90%, reducing total database cost by 6x.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h3>Processing time series data</h3> <p>Using the Redis engine, ElastiCache can rapidly process <a href="/facts/Time-series/fSXPR817">time-series</a> data, quickly selecting newest or oldest records or events within range of a point-in-time.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p> <h3>Leaderboards</h3> <p>Leaderboards are an effective way to show a user quickly where they currently stand within a gamified system. For systems with large numbers of gamers, calculating and publishing player ranks can be challenging. Using Amazon ElastiCache with the Redis engine can enable high-speed at scale for leaderboards.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h3>Rate limitation</h3> <p>Some APIs only allow a limited number of requests per time period. Amazon ElastiCache for Redis engine can use incremental counters and other tools to throttle API access to meet restrictions.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p> <h3>Atomic counter</h3> <p>Programs can use incremental <a href="/facts/Counter_(digital)/SD2V8R8w">counters</a> to limit allowed quantities, such as the maximum number of students enrolled in a course or ensuring a game has at least 2 but not more than 8 players. Using counters can create a <a href="/facts/Race_condition/bvNpgy4F">race condition</a> where an operation is allowed because a counter was not updated promptly. Using the ElastiCache for Redis atomic counter functions, where a single operation both checks and increments the counter's value, prevents race conditions.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p> <h3>Chat rooms and message boards</h3> <p>ElastiCache for Redis supports <a href="/facts/Publish%E2%80%93subscribe_pattern/d2aH1etM">publish-subscribe</a> patterns, which enable the creation of <a href="/facts/Chat_rooms/QbFjlYQU">chat rooms</a> and message boards where messages are automatically distributed to interested users.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="deployment-options">Deployment options</h2> <p>Amazon ElastiCache can use on-demand cache nodes or reserved cache nodes. </p><p>On-demand nodes provide cache capacity by the hour, with resources in the AWS cloud assigned when a cache node is provisioned. An on-demand node can be removed from service by its owner at any time. Each month, the owner will be billed for the hours used.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p><p>Reserved nodes require a 1-year or 3-year commitment, which dedicates cache resources to the owner. The hourly cost of reserved nodes is significantly lower than the hourly cost of on-demand nodes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="performance">Performance</h2> <p>An efficient <a href="/facts/Cache_(computing)/gmJYN8wm">cache</a> can significantly increase application's performance and user navigation speed. <a href="/facts/Amazon_CloudWatch/2EMwnvlS">Amazon CloudWatch</a> exposes ElastiCache performance metrics that can be tracked.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> </p> <h3>Key performance metrics</h3> <ul><li>Client metrics (measure the volume of client connections and requests): Number of current client connections to the cache, Get and Set commands received by the cache</li> <li>Cache performance: Hits, misses, Replication Lag, <a href="/facts/Latency_(engineering)/6Bjhn30H">Latency</a></li> <li>Memory metrics: Memory usage, Evictions, Amount of free memory available on the host, Swap Usage, Memory fragmentation ratio</li> <li>Other host-level metrics: <a href="/facts/CPU_time/BhzkBzFl">CPU utilization</a>, Number of bytes read from the network by the host, Number of bytes written to the network by the host</li></ul> <h3>Metric collection</h3> <p>Many ElastiCache metrics can be collected from AWS via <a href="/facts/Amazon_CloudWatch/2EMwnvlS">CloudWatch</a> or directly from the cache engine, whether Redis or Memcached, with a monitoring tool integrating with it:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> </p> <ul><li>Using the <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/console/">AWS Management Console</a></li></ul> <p>Using the online management console is the simplest way to monitor ElastiCache with CloudWatch. It allows to set up basic automated alerts and to get a visual picture of recent changes in individual metrics. </p> <ul><li>CloudWatch <a href="/facts/Command-line_interface/R9JpGmXQ">command-line interface</a></li></ul> <p>Metrics related to ElastiCache can also be retrieved using command lines. It can be used for spot checks and ad hoc investigations. </p> <ul><li>Monitoring tool integrated with CloudWatch</li></ul> <p>The third way to collect ElastiCache metrics is via a dedicated monitoring tool integrating with Amazon CloudWatch. </p> <h2 id="notable-customers">Notable customers</h2> <p>Users of Amazon ElastiCache include <a href="/facts/Airbnb/EP95k6Rr">Airbnb</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Expedia/1Nj3R1Q1">Expedia</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Zynga/10N5clUS">Zynga</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Tinder_(app)/lkKTFoHz">Tinder</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a> <a href="/facts/FanDuel/UdGVXr9z">FanDuel</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a> and <a href="/facts/Mapbox/fpWPgkJ4">Mapbox</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="limitations">Limitations</h2> <p>As an AWS service, ElastiCache is designed to be accessed exclusively from within AWS, though it is possible to connect the service to applications and databases that are not hosted by AWS.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="alternatives">Alternatives</h2> <p>Other vendors provide cloud data cache services comparable to Amazon ElastiCache, including <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cache/">Azure Cache for Redis</a>, <a href="/facts/Redis_(company)/ksCBe172">Redis Ltd</a> (company behind open source Redis and Redis Enterprise), Redis To Go, IBM Compose, <a href="/facts/Oracle_Cloud/3VfYGGIB">Oracle Application Container Cloud Service</a>, and <a href="/facts/ObjectRocket/jKNGn7xq">Rackspace ObjectRocket</a>. </p> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/">Official website</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"ElastiCache for Redis". Amazon Web Services. Archived from the original on 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2016-08-29. <a href="http://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/redis" target="_blank">http://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/redis</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Scaling". AWS ElastiCache Documentation. Archived from the original on 2016-12-11. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonElastiCache/latest/UserGuide/Scaling.html" target="_blank">http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonElastiCache/latest/UserGuide/Scaling.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Amazon ElastiCache – Distributed In-Memory Caching". amazon.com. 22 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2016-03-20. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="http://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/amazon-elasticache-distributed-in-memory-caching/" target="_blank">http://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/amazon-elasticache-distributed-in-memory-caching/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Reserved Cache Nodes for Amazon ElastiCache". amazon.com. 5 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/reserved-instances-for-amazon-elasticache/" target="_blank">https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/reserved-instances-for-amazon-elasticache/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Amazon ElastiCache – Now With a Dash of Redis". amazon.com. 4 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/amazon-elasticache-now-with-a-dash-of-redis/" target="_blank">https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/amazon-elasticache-now-with-a-dash-of-redis/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Use Memcached to improve database performance". CloudVPS. Archived from the original on 2016-07-13. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160713023747/http://www.cloudvps.com/community/knowledge-base/use-memcached-to-improve-database-performance" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20160713023747/http://www.cloudvps.com/community/knowledge-base/use-memcached-to-improve-database-performance</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Customer Testimonials". amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/testimonials/" target="_blank">https://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/testimonials/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"AWS Building Scalable Applications on AWS NoSQL Services". youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2024-12-05. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie4dWGT76LM&t=30m36s" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie4dWGT76LM&t=30m36s</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Using Redis as a Time Series Database: Why and How". InfoQueue. Archived from the original on 2016-08-02. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://www.infoq.com/articles/redis-time-series" target="_blank">https://www.infoq.com/articles/redis-time-series</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"USING REDIS TO BUILD YOUR GAME LEADERBOARD". Social Point. Archived from the original on 2018-09-14. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180914135719/http://www.socialpoint.es/blog/using-redis-to-build-your-game-leaderboard/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20180914135719/http://www.socialpoint.es/blog/using-redis-to-build-your-game-leaderboard/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"DOWN BOY: HOW TO EASILY THROTTLE REQUESTS TO AN API USING REDIS". Collective Idea. 30 November 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="http://collectiveidea.com/blog/archives/2012/11/30/down-boy-how-to-easily-throttle-requests-to-an-api-using-redis/" target="_blank">http://collectiveidea.com/blog/archives/2012/11/30/down-boy-how-to-easily-throttle-requests-to-an-api-using-redis/</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"An Atomic Rant". Nate Wigel vs Technology. 18 February 2010. Archived from the original on 2016-05-28. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="http://www.nateware.com/an-atomic-rant.html" target="_blank">http://www.nateware.com/an-atomic-rant.html</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"Create a Simple Chat Room with Redis Pubsub". Program Every Day. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160721013351/http://programeveryday.com/post/create-a-simple-chat-room-with-redis-pubsub/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20160721013351/http://programeveryday.com/post/create-a-simple-chat-room-with-redis-pubsub/</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>"Amazon ElastiCache Pricing". amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/pricing/" target="_blank">https://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/pricing/</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>"ElastiCache Reserved Cache Nodes". amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-02. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/reserved-cache-nodes/" target="_blank">https://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/reserved-cache-nodes/</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>"Monitoring ElastiCache performance metrics with Redis or Memcached". 10 December 2015. Retrieved 2016-10-24. <a href="https://www.datadoghq.com/blog/monitoring-elasticache-performance-metrics-with-redis-or-memcached/" target="_blank">https://www.datadoghq.com/blog/monitoring-elasticache-performance-metrics-with-redis-or-memcached/</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>"Collecting ElastiCache metrics + its Redis/Memcached metrics". 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2016-10-24. <a href="https://www.datadoghq.com/blog/collecting-elasticache-metrics-its-redis-memcached-metrics/" target="_blank">https://www.datadoghq.com/blog/collecting-elasticache-metrics-its-redis-memcached-metrics/</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>"Airbnb Case Study". amazon.com. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="http://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/airbnb/" target="_blank">http://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/airbnb/</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>"Building Scalable Applications on AWS NoSQL Services". youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie4dWGT76LM&t=20m7s" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie4dWGT76LM&t=20m7s</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>"AWS Case Study: Zynga". amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/zynga/" target="_blank">https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/zynga/</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>"Building resiliency at scale at Tinder with Amazon ElastiCache". amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2024-03-05. Retrieved 2024-03-28. <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/building-resiliency-at-scale-at-tinder-with-amazon-elasticache/?pg=ln&sec=c" target="_blank">https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/building-resiliency-at-scale-at-tinder-with-amazon-elasticache/?pg=ln&sec=c</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>"FanDuel Case Study". amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-30. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/fanduel/" target="_blank">https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/fanduel/</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>"Building Scalable Applications on AWS NoSQL Services". youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie4dWGT76LM&t=34m20s" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie4dWGT76LM&t=34m20s</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>"Accessing ElastiCache Resources from Outside AWS". AWS Documentation. Archived from the original on 2016-08-06. Retrieved 2016-07-08. <a href="http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonElastiCache/latest/UserGuide/Access.Outside.html" target="_blank">http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonElastiCache/latest/UserGuide/Access.Outside.html</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>