Caching is the key word in this article today and we are going to not only understand what it is but we are going to look at some of the popular caching tools you use and also get deeper and discuss some resources you can use to learn something about them. This is going to be an interesting article and we do not intend to leave you behind. Are you ready to join us? Here we go.
So what is Caching?
Borrowing its definition from CloudFlare, Caching is the process of storing copies of files in a cache, or temporary storage location, so that they can be accessed more quickly. Technically, a cache is any temporary storage location for copies of files or data, but the term is often used in reference to Internet technologies. Web browsers cache HTML files, JavaScript, and images in order to load websites more quickly, while DNS servers cache DNS records for faster lookups and CDN servers cache content to reduce latency.
Memcached is an open source, high performance, distributed memory object caching system that is used for caching objects and queries that results in speeding up the dynamic web application by elevating the expensive database loads. You can think of it as a short-term memory for your applications. Source: Memcached Website
Redis is an open source (BSD licensed), in-memory data structure store, used as a database, cache, and message broker. Source: Redis Website. It is a very popular tool that most developers use to cache requests that they have designed to be repetitive so that the performance of their applications behave like an engine upgraded with turbo.
Next, we shall look at a few resources we managed to get that you can use to get a better view of Memcached and Redis as well as deepen your understanding of their inner working. With this, you will be empowered to administer, use and improve on these remarkable caching tools. Ranked in no particular order, we shall thus begin:
1. Redis 4.x Cookbook
Authors Pengcheng Huang and, Zuofei Wang diligently prepared this book to provide both step-by-step recipes and relevant the background information required to utilize its features to the fullest. It covers everything from a basic understanding of Redis data types to advanced aspects of Redis high availability, clustering, administration, and troubleshooting. This book will be your great companion to master all aspects of Redis.
The book starts off by installing and configuring Redis for you to get started with ease. Moving on, all the data types and features of Redis are introduced in detail. Next, you will learn how to develop applications with Redis in Java, Python, and the Spring Boot web framework. You will also learn replication tasks, which will help you to troubleshoot replication issues. Furthermore, you will learn the steps that need to be undertaken to ensure high availability on your cluster and during production deployment. Toward the end of the book, you will learn the topmost tasks that will help you to troubleshoot your ecosystem efficiently, along with extending Redis by using different modules.
What you will learn
- Install and configure your Redis instance
- Explore various data types and commands in Redis
- Build client-side applications as well as a Big Data framework with Redis
- Manage data replication and persistence in Redis
- Implement high availability and data sharding in Redis
- Extend Redis with Redis Module
- Benchmark, debug, fine-tune and troubleshoot various issues in Redis
The authors recommend that the reader should have a fundamental understanding of Redis in order to get the best out of this book. If you fit this audience, a link is provided below where you can review, find more information as well as order a copy for your personal collection.
2. Redis Essentials
Redis Essentials by Maxwell Dayvson Da Silva, and Hugo Lopes Tavares is a fast-paced guide that teaches the fundamentals on data types, explains how to manage data through commands, and shares experiences from big players in the industry.
He starts off by explaining the basics of Redis followed by the various data types such as Strings, hashes, lists, and more. Next, Common pitfalls for various scenarios are described, followed by solutions to ensure you do not fall into common traps.
After this, major differences between client implementations in PHP, Python, and Ruby are presented. Next, you will learn how to extend Redis with Lua, get to know security techniques such as basic authorization, firewall rules, and SSL encryption, and discover how to use Twemproxy, Redis Sentinel, and Redis Cluster to scale infrastructures horizontally. At the end of this book, you will be able to utilize all the essential features of Redis to optimize your project’s performance.
What you will learn
- Build analytics applications using Bitmaps and Hyperloglogs
- Enhance scalability with Twemproxy, Redis Sentinel, and Redis Cluster
- Build a Time Series implementation in Node.js and Redis
- Create your own Redis commands by extending Redis with Lua
- Get to know security techniques to protect your data (SSL encryption, firewall rules, basic authorization)
- Persist data to disk and learn the trade-offs of AOF and RDB
- Understand how to use Node.js, PHP, Python, and Ruby clients for Redis
- Avoid common pitfalls when designing your next solution
Spread over nine chapters, every competent developer with experience of working with data structure servers and would like to boost their project’s performance by learning about features of Redis will benefit greatly from this resource. As a developer, you will have the opportunity to add an extra skillset in your resume and improve how your applications perform. Get your copy delivered from Amazon below.
3. Mastering Redis
This book by Jeremy Nelson is a practical guide which aims to help you deep dive into the world of Redis data structure to exploit its excellent features. We start our journey by understanding the need of Redis in brief, followed by an explanation of Advanced key management. Next, you will learn about design patterns, best practices for using Redis in DevOps environment and Docker containerization paradigm in detail. After this, you will understand the concept of scaling with Redis cluster and Redis Sentinel , followed by a through explanation of incorporating Redis with NoSQL technologies such as Elasticsearch and MongoDB. At the end of this section, you will be able to develop competent applications using these technologies. You will then explore the message queuing and task management features of Redis and will be able to implement them in your applications. Finally, you will learn how Redis can be used to build real-time data analytic dashboards, for different disparate data streams.
What You Will Learn
- Choose the right Redis data structure for your problem
- Understand Redis event-loop and implement your own custom C commands
- Solve complex workflows with Redis server-side scripting with Lua
- Configure your Redis instance for optimal memory management
- Scale your data in a distributed manner with Redis Cluster
- Improve the stability of your Redis solution using Redis Sentinel
- Complement your existing database and NoSQL environment with Redis
- Exploit a wide range of features provided by Redis to become a DevOps expert.
If you are a software developer with some experience with Redis and would now like to elevate your Redis knowledge and skills even further, then this book is for you. Go through what Jeremy has shared and you will be at a better position to exploit a wide range of features provided by Redis to become a DevOps expert. It is definitely interesting. Get all the fun and learning delivered from Amazon by clicking on the link below.
4. Caching using Memcached in Open Source Searching
Author Sarswati Kumar Pandey quips that the results obtained after implementing, testing and using the Memcached has shown that caching using Memcached has reduced the load on the databases and improved the response times by more than fifty percent compared to vanilla database response time.
This book describes this execution time improvement by using Memcached – a key/value caching solution. Open source search that appears in the title is simply searching using open source technologies like Apache Solr, Apache Lucene, MySQL, Memcached or any other open source technology.
After reading through Caching using Memcached in Open Source Searching and implementing the skills and recommendations therein, you can be guaranteed that you will get faster web pages loads which increases the throughput and improves the response times.
All you need to know about Memcached is discussed in detail and practical advice is also shared so that you can deliver a performance boost for your applications as fast as possible.
You can get Sarswati Kumar’s work from Amazon below.
5. Memcached Third Edition
This Memcached All-Inclusive Self-Assessment by Gerardus Blokdyk enables you to be the person that defines, designs, creates, and implements a process to solve a challenge or meet a Memcached cache objective in your organization.
All the tools you need to an in-depth Memcached Self-Assessment is availed by author Gerardus. Featuring 703 new and updated case-based questions, organized into seven core areas of process design, this Self-Assessment will help you identify areas in which Memcached improvements can be made.
In using the questions you will be better able to:
- Diagnose Memcached projects, initiatives, organizations, businesses and processes using accepted diagnostic standards and practices
- Implement evidence-based best practice strategies aligned with overall goals
- Integrate recent advances in Memcached and process design strategies into practice according to best practice guidelines
Using this guide as a Self-Assessment tool known as the Memcached Scorecard, you will develop a clear picture of which Memcached areas need attention for the best results in your particular use-case. Click below to get your copy from Amazon and be ahead of your peers in Memcached caching strategies and improve your applications’ response times.
Concluding Symphony
Having discussed what caching is and presented the resources you can peruse to learn about Redis and Memcached, we believe that you now have all it takes to be an expert in optimizing applications. You will be empowered with the skills needed to improve response rates as well as increasing the usability of applications for the delight of your users and clients. We hope that this brief article shared will be of use and benefit you in your pursuit of excellence. Finally, we are proud of you all for your continued support, motivation and encouragement.
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