Overview Of Memcached

What is Memcached?

Memcached is an open-source, high-performance, distributed memory object caching system. It is used to speed up dynamic web applications by alleviating database load. Memcached stores data in memory for quick retrieval, reducing the time taken to fetch data from a database or other persistent storage.

How Does Memcached Work?

Memcached works by storing key-value pairs in memory. When an application needs to retrieve data, it first checks Memcached. If the data is found (a cache hit), it is returned quickly. If not (a cache miss), the application fetches the data from the database, stores it in Memcached for future requests, and then returns the data to the user.

This caching mechanism reduces the number of database queries, leading to better performance and scalability.

Key Features of Memcached

Some of the prominent features of Memcached include:

High Performance: Memcached is designed to be fast. It can handle a large number of simultaneous connections and requests.
Scalability: It supports horizontal scaling, allowing you to add more nodes easily.
Simple API: Memcached provides a simple API for storing and retrieving data.
Memory Efficiency: It is optimized for memory usage, allowing for efficient data storage and retrieval.

Basic Commands

Here are some basic commands used with Memcached:

Set a value:

set my_key 0 900 4

data

Get a value:

get my_key

VALUE my_key 0 4

data

Delete a value:

delete my_key

DELETED

Use Cases for Memcached

Memcached is used in various scenarios, including:

Web Page Caching: Store rendered HTML pages to serve users quickly.
Session Storage: Store session data for web applications to reduce database load.
Database Query Caching: Cache the results of frequent database queries.

Conclusion