Storing Data | Data Storage | Memcached Tutorial

Introduction to Memcached

Memcached is a high-performance, distributed memory object caching system. Its primary purpose is to speed up dynamic web applications by alleviating database load. Memcached stores data in memory, which allows for rapid data retrieval.

How Memcached Works

Memcached operates on a client-server architecture. Data is stored in key-value pairs, where the key is a unique identifier for the data, and the value is the data itself. To retrieve data, you simply request the value using the key.

Setting Up Memcached

To use Memcached, you need to install it on your server. Here’s how to install Memcached on a Linux system:

Run the following command in your terminal:

sudo apt-get install memcached

After installation, you can start the Memcached service:

Use the command below:

sudo service memcached start

Connecting to Memcached

To interact with Memcached, you will typically use a client library available in various programming languages. Below is an example using PHP:

First, install the Memcached extension for PHP:

sudo apt-get install php-memcached

Then, you can connect to Memcached in your PHP script as follows:


                $memcached = new Memcached();

                $memcached->addServer('localhost', 11211);

Storing Data in Memcached

Once connected, you can store data in Memcached using the set method:


                $memcached->set('key', 'value', 60); // Stores 'value' under 'key' for 60 seconds

This command stores the value with a key and specifies an expiration time in seconds.

Retrieving Data from Memcached

To retrieve your stored data, use the get method:


                $value = $memcached->get('key');

                echo $value; // Outputs 'value'

This retrieves the value associated with 'key'. If the key does not exist, it returns false.

Deleting Data from Memcached

If you want to remove an item from the cache, use the delete method:


                $memcached->delete('key');

This will remove the item associated with 'key' from Memcached.

Conclusion

Memcached is a powerful tool for improving the performance of web applications by storing data in memory. By following the steps outlined in this tutorial, you will be able to set up Memcached, connect to it, and perform basic data storage and retrieval.

Storing Data with Memcached