Seven Databases in Seven Weeks, 2nd Edition

Data Structure Server Store

It can be a bit difficult to classify exactly what Redis is. At a basic level, it’s a key-value store, of course, but that simple label doesn’t really do it justice. Redis supports advanced data structures, though not to the degree that a document-oriented database would. It supports set-based query operations but not with the granularity or type support you’d find in a relational database. And, of course, it’s fast, trading durability for raw speed.

In addition to being an advanced data structure server, Redis can also be used as a blocking queue (or stack) and a publish-subscribe system. It features configurable expiry policies, durability levels, and replication options. All of this makes Redis more of a toolkit ...