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": "john@example.com"},
        "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": "john@example.com"
  }
}

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

• Cache Overview: Compare caching backends
• Memcached: Alternative caching option
• Performance Tuning: Optimize DreamFactory