Redis

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Redis

Redis is a high-performance, in-memory data store that DreamFactory uses for caching, session storage, and rate limiting. It provides sub-millisecond response times and supports advanced data structures for complex caching scenarios.

Use Cases

  • API response caching: Store database query results for faster subsequent requests
  • Session storage: Distribute user sessions across multiple DreamFactory instances
  • Rate limiting: Track API request counts with automatic expiry
  • Queue backend: Process background jobs asynchronously
  • Pub/Sub messaging: Real-time event distribution (advanced)

Prerequisites

Redis Server

Install Redis on your server or use a managed service:

Ubuntu/Debian: 

sudo apt update
sudo apt install redis-server
sudo systemctl enable redis-server
sudo systemctl start redis-server

Managed Services:

  • AWS ElastiCache for Redis
  • Azure Cache for Redis
  • Google Cloud Memorystore
  • Redis Cloud

Verify Installation

redis-cli ping
# Expected response: PONG

Configuring Redis in DreamFactory

System Cache Configuration

Set Redis as the system cache backend in your DreamFactory environment file (.env): 

CACHE_DRIVER=redis
REDIS_HOST=localhost
REDIS_PORT=6379
REDIS_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
REDIS_DATABASE=0

Configuration Options

Variable Required Default Description
CACHE_DRIVER Yes file Set to redis to enable
REDIS_HOST Yes localhost Redis server hostname or IP
REDIS_PORT No 6379 Redis server port
REDIS_PASSWORD No - Redis authentication password
REDIS_DATABASE No 0 Redis database number (0-15)
REDIS_PREFIX No dreamfactory Key prefix for namespacing

Session Storage

To store sessions in Redis: 

SESSION_DRIVER=redis

Queue Backend

To use Redis for background job queues: 

QUEUE_DRIVER=redis

Creating a Redis Cache Service

In addition to system caching, you can create a Redis service for direct cache API access.

Step 1: Navigate to API Generation

Log in to your DreamFactory instance and select API Generation & Connections. Set API Type to Cache.

Step 2: Create New Service

Click the plus button and select Redis.

Step 3: Configure Service Details

Field Description Example
Name Service name (used in API URL) redis
Label Display name Redis Cache
Description Service description Application cache service

Step 4: Configure Connection

Field Required Default Description
Host No 127.0.0.1 Redis server hostname or IP
Port No 6379 Redis port number
Password No - Authentication password
Database Index No 0 Redis database number (0-15)
Default TTL No 300 Time to live in minutes before cached values expire

Step 5: Save and Test

Save the service and use API Docs to test cache operations.

API Endpoints

Method Endpoint Description
GET /api/v2/{service}/ List all keys (use sparingly)
GET /api/v2/{service}/{key} Get value by key
POST /api/v2/{service} Store one or more key-value pairs
PUT /api/v2/{service}/{key} Update existing key
DELETE /api/v2/{service}/{key} Delete a key
DELETE /api/v2/{service} Flush all keys (dangerous)

API Examples

Store a Value

curl -X POST "https://example.com/api/v2/redis" \
  -H "X-DreamFactory-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "resource": [
      {
        "key": "user:123:profile",
        "value": {"name": "John Doe", "email": "[email protected]"},
        "ttl": 3600
      }
    ]
  }'

Response: 

{
  "resource": [
    {
      "key": "user:123:profile",
      "success": true
    }
  ]
}

Store Multiple Values

curl -X POST "https://example.com/api/v2/redis" \
  -H "X-DreamFactory-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "resource": [
      {"key": "setting:theme", "value": "dark", "ttl": 86400},
      {"key": "setting:language", "value": "en", "ttl": 86400},
      {"key": "setting:timezone", "value": "UTC", "ttl": 86400}
    ]
  }'

Retrieve a Value

curl -X GET "https://example.com/api/v2/redis/user:123:profile" \
  -H "X-DreamFactory-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Response: 

{
  "key": "user:123:profile",
  "value": {
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "[email protected]"
  }
}

Delete a Key

curl -X DELETE "https://example.com/api/v2/redis/user:123:profile" \
  -H "X-DreamFactory-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Check if Key Exists

curl -X GET "https://example.com/api/v2/redis/user:123:profile?check_exist=true" \
  -H "X-DreamFactory-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Response: 

{
  "key": "user:123:profile",
  "exists": true
}

TTL (Time-To-Live)

Set expiration times when storing values:

TTL Value Behavior
Positive integer Expire after N seconds
0 No expiration (persist indefinitely)
-1 Use default TTL from service config

Recommended TTL Values

Data Type TTL (seconds) Duration
Session data 1800 30 minutes
User profiles 300 5 minutes
Reference data 86400 24 hours
Rate limit counters 60 1 minute
Real-time data 30 30 seconds

Redis Configuration Best Practices

Security

Bind to localhost or private network: 

# /etc/redis/redis.conf
bind 127.0.0.1

Require authentication: 

requirepass your_strong_password_here

Disable dangerous commands: 

rename-command FLUSHDB ""
rename-command FLUSHALL ""
rename-command DEBUG ""

Memory Management

Set memory limit: 

maxmemory 256mb

Configure eviction policy: 

maxmemory-policy allkeys-lru
Policy Description
noeviction Return error when memory limit reached
allkeys-lru Evict least recently used keys (recommended)
volatile-lru Evict LRU keys with TTL set
allkeys-random Random eviction

Persistence

RDB snapshots (default): 

save 900 1    # Save if 1 key changed in 900 seconds
save 300 10   # Save if 10 keys changed in 300 seconds
save 60 10000 # Save if 10000 keys changed in 60 seconds

AOF for durability: 

appendonly yes
appendfsync everysec

High Availability

Redis Sentinel

For automatic failover: 

REDIS_SENTINEL_HOST=sentinel1.example.com,sentinel2.example.com
REDIS_SENTINEL_PORT=26379
REDIS_SENTINEL_MASTER=mymaster

Redis Cluster

For horizontal scaling, configure multiple Redis nodes with clustering enabled.

Monitoring

Key Metrics to Watch

Metric Description Alert Threshold
used_memory Current memory usage > 80% of maxmemory
connected_clients Active connections > 80% of maxclients
keyspace_hits Cache hit count -
keyspace_misses Cache miss count High miss ratio
evicted_keys Keys removed due to memory Any eviction

Redis CLI Commands

# Check server status
redis-cli info

# Monitor memory
redis-cli info memory

# Check connected clients
redis-cli client list

# Get hit/miss ratio
redis-cli info stats | grep keyspace

Common Errors

Error Code Message Cause Solution
400 Bad Request Invalid key or value Check request format
401 Unauthorized Missing API key Add API key header
404 Not Found Key does not exist Handle cache miss
500 Connection refused Redis server unreachable Check Redis server status
500 NOAUTH Authentication required Add REDIS_PASSWORD to .env

Troubleshooting Connection Issues

# Test Redis connectivity
redis-cli -h localhost -p 6379 ping

# Test with password
redis-cli -h localhost -p 6379 -a your_password ping

# Check Redis logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/redis/redis-server.log

Performance Tuning

Connection Pooling

Configure persistent connections in Laravel/DreamFactory: 

REDIS_CLIENT=phpredis

Pipelining

For bulk operations, the API supports batch requests that are automatically pipelined.

Key Design

  • Use colons : as separators: user:123:profile
  • Keep keys short but descriptive
  • Use consistent naming conventions
  • Avoid spaces and special characters

Next Steps

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