AWS ElastiCache

ElastiCache

• AWS managed Redis/Memcached

• in-memory cache for read intensive applications

• might require heavy application change

• redis:

  • multi AZ for auto failover
  • read replicas to scale reads and have high availability
  • data durability using AOF persistency
  • backup and restore
  • supports sets and sorted sets

• memcached

  • multi-node for partitioning of data (sharding)
  • no high availability (replication)
  • no persistent
  • no backup or restore

• security

  • IAM authentication for Redis
  • Redis AUTH
  • security groups
  • IAM policies on ElastiCache are only used for API-level security
  • Memcached supports SASL-based authentication

Authenticating with AUTH command

• Using Redis AUTH command can improve data security by requiring the user to enter a password before they are granted permission to execute Redis commands on a password-protected Redis server.
• AUTH can only be enabled for encryption in-transit enabled ElastiCache clusters
  • so two parameters --transit-encryption-enabled and --auth-token are required