Redis In-Memory Data Store (Interview)

Wynn caught up with Salvatore Sanfilippo to talk about Redis, the super hot key value store.

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Featuring:

• Salvatore Sanfilippo – Website, GitHub, X
• Wynn Netherland – GitHub, X

Show Notes:

• VMware signs the paychecks for Salvatore and Pieter Noordhuis
• Redis is an open source, advanced key-value store and data structure server wherein keys can contain strings, hashes, lists, sets and sorted sets
• Redis internals consist of ANSI C with an evented model
• Non-blocking replication has always been a Redis design goal
• Replication in Redis is async
• Salvatore’s Redis toolbox includes the Redis Ruby gem and Sinatra
• Chances are you can find a Redis library in your favorite language
• The C client is the only officially supported wrapper
• Salvatore thinks the NoSQL moniker isn’t perfect, focusing too much on performance, but it frames a discussion
• Redis Pub/Sub is perfect for real-time apps
• GitHub’s adoption of Redis in Resque helped fuel the growth of the project
• Redis users tend to use it as a database, as a messaging bus, or as a cache
• Salvatore thinks hosted solutions like Redis-to-Go need to add more value like more frequent backups and seamless upgrades.
• Blizzard uses an 8-node Redis install in serving avatars for WoW
• Justin Campbell asks will VMWare feature Redis in any upcoming projects?
• Ezra Zygmuntowicz and GitHub were among the first “few brave users”
• After a few months Salvatore noticed a dip in adoption , but he trusted his gut and stuck with it

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!