All About Redis

Introduction

Redis is a non-relational database and cache server that is open-source and widely replicated. It operates by using a preset data model to map keys to values.

Redis (which stands for Remote Directory Server) is an in-memory data structure store, according to its GitHub source. It's a disk-permanent key-value database that can handle a variety of data formats and data kinds.

This means that, in addition, to mapping key-value-based strings for storing and retrieving data (like in traditional databases), Redis also allows other complicated data structures such as lists, sets, and so on.

In large enterprise applications, Redis has a wide range of uses. It can also be used as a message broker or in publisher/subscriber systems in addition to serving as a cache server. Below I have shared the links to different use cases provided by Redis:

• Caching
• Session Management
• Fraud Detection
• Real-Time Inventory
• Claims Processing
• Leaderboards
• Messaging
• Fast Data Ingest
• Redis Enterprise for Microservices
• Deduplication

The following are some of the advantages:

• Caching system based on mapped key-value pairs, similar to Memcached.
• There are no hard and fast rules for designing rigorous data schemas or tables (schemaless)
• Multiple data models or types are supported.
• When compared to other database systems, it has more advanced functionality.
• Through a method called sharding, the ability to endure numerous concurrent write requests or transactions per second.
• It can be used as a support database with other databases to reduce load and enhance speed, but it can also be used as the primary database. It's important to note that this is usually determined by individual demands and use situations.
• Can be useful in situations where speedy data ingestion is required while maintaining data integrity, and where properties such as high efficiency and replication are essential.

Popular Questions

What exactly is the purpose of Redis?

Redis may be used as an in-memory data store for ingesting, processing, and analyzing real-time data with sub-millisecond latency using streaming technologies like Apache Kafka and Amazon Kinesis. For real-time analytics use cases such as social media analytics, ad targeting, personalization, and IoT, Redis is an excellent solution.

What makes Redis so much quicker than SQL?

Because Redis stores data in main memory, read and write operations are incredibly quick. Because data is stored in secondary memory in RDBMS, read and write operations are sluggish. Because primary memory is smaller and more costly than secondary memory, Redis is unable to store huge files or binary data.

Is Redis capable of replacing a database?

Redis is a data store that outperforms standard databases in terms of performance. It is not, however, a database replacement; rather, it is a small, quick, and simple tool to augment your existing application.

What can be some alternatives to Redis?

• ArangoDB.
• Azure Cosmos DB.
• Amazon DynamoDB.
• Couchbase.
• Cassandra.
• MongoDB.
• Aerospike.
• CouchDB.

When should I use Redis?

Because Redis is memory-oriented, it's ideal for regularly updated real-time data like session stores, state databases, analytics, and caching, and its sophisticated data structures provide adaptability in a variety of other applications.

Is Redis an ACID-compliant database?

Because Redis is single-threaded, it is ACID compliant (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability). Other NoSQL databases often do not, or only partially, support ACID compliance.

Though according to some critiques Redis is lacking the D in ACID, which means that a properly performed command is not guaranteed to persist to disc because Redis merely flushes its data to disc at customizable intervals (if persistence is enabled). As a result, if your server fails, the modifications made since the last flush are lost.

Is it possible to utilize Redis as the primary database?

According to team Redis, Redis Enterprise enables you to utilize Redis as both an in-memory cache and the main database in a single system, removing the complexity and latency of two distinct systems.

What is the Redis programming language?

Redis is developed in ANSI C and runs without any external dependencies on most POSIX platforms, including Linux, *BSD, and Mac OS X. The two operating platforms where Redis has been developed and tested the most are Linux and OS X, therefore we advocate choosing Linux for deployment.

Is it possible to utilize Redis for free?

A free plan with minimal setup steps is available from Redis Labs, a Redis cloud hosting provider.

Redis Configuration

We may use the latest available binaries to install Redis on our local PCs :

• Install Redis from the Source
• Install Redis on Linux
• Install Redis on macOS
• Install Redis on Windows

Alternatively, we may download using the following command:

wget https://download.redis.io/releases/redis-7.0.0.tar.gz        

You can also check and find other releases here.

After downloading the binaries, we can go ahead and extract it:

tar xzf redis-7.0.0.tar.g
cd redis-7.0.0
make
ls
cd src/z        

All we have to do now is execute the following command to start Redis locally:

./redis-server        

We may create a new terminal window and execute the following command to see if the Redis connection to the server is successful:

redis-cli ping        

The actual outcome should be as follows:

PONG        

Finally, we can run: to start the Redis CLI and begin experimenting and learning how to deal with Redis commands:

./redis-cli        

This section of the Redis documentation contains a reference to a comprehensive list of all accessible Redis commands.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the details shared in this article enable Redis to provide extremely performant and fast read and write operations. Visit the documentation for further information on learning Redis, including a list of accessible resources.