Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

AWS Lambda VS Amazon ElastiCache

Compare AWS Lambda VS Amazon ElastiCache and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

AWS Lambda logo AWS Lambda

Automatic, event-driven compute service

Amazon ElastiCache logo Amazon ElastiCache

Amazon ElastiCache offers fully managed Redis and Memcached. Seamlessly deploy, operate, and scale popular open source compatible in-memory data stores.
  • AWS Lambda Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-29
  • Amazon ElastiCache Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-28

AWS Lambda features and specs

  • Scalability
    AWS Lambda automatically scales your application by running your code in response to each trigger. This means no manual intervention is required to handle varying levels of traffic.
  • Cost-effectiveness
    You only pay for the compute time you consume. Billing is metered in increments of 100 milliseconds and you are not charged when your code is not running.
  • Reduced Operations Overhead
    AWS Lambda abstracts the infrastructure management layer, so there is no need to manage or provision servers. This allows you to focus more on writing code for your applications.
  • Flexibility
    Supports multiple programming languages such as Python, Node.js, Ruby, Java, Go, and .NET, which allows you to use the language you are most comfortable with.
  • Integration with Other AWS Services
    Seamlessly integrates with many other AWS services such as S3, DynamoDB, RDS, SNS, and more, making it versatile and highly functional.
  • Automatic Scaling and Load Balancing
    Handles thousands of concurrent requests without managing the scaling yourself, making it suitable for applications requiring high availability and reliability.

Possible disadvantages of AWS Lambda

  • Cold Start Latency
    The first request to a Lambda function after it has been idle for a certain period can take longer to execute. This is referred to as a 'cold start' and can impact performance.
  • Resource Limits
    Lambda has defined limits, such as a maximum execution timeout of 15 minutes, memory allocation ranging from 128 MB to 10,240 MB, and temporary storage up to 512 MB.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Using AWS Lambda ties you into the AWS ecosystem, making it difficult to migrate to another cloud provider or an on-premises solution without significant modifications to your application.
  • Complexity of Debugging
    Debugging and monitoring distributed, serverless applications can be more complex compared to traditional applications due to the lack of direct access to the underlying infrastructure.
  • Cold Start Issues with VPC
    When Lambda functions are configured to access resources within a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), the cold start latency can be exacerbated due to additional VPC networking overhead.
  • Limited Execution Control
    AWS Lambda is designed for stateless, short-running tasks and may not be suitable for long-running processes or tasks requiring complex orchestration.

Amazon ElastiCache features and specs

  • Scalability
    Amazon ElastiCache allows for seamless scaling of your cache cluster. You can easily add or remove nodes to adjust to the workload demands, ensuring efficient resource management.
  • Managed Service
    ElastiCache is fully managed by AWS, meaning that infrastructure tasks such as hardware provisioning, patching, and maintenance are handled by Amazon, reducing operational overhead for users.
  • High Performance
    Designed for delivering low latency and high throughput, ElastiCache can significantly improve the performance of applications by reducing the time to retrieve data from databases.
  • Compatibility
    It supports popular caching engines such as Redis and Memcached, allowing users to work with familiar technologies and migrate existing setups to the AWS environment with ease.
  • Security and Compliance
    ElastiCache provides robust security features including VPC integration, data encryption, and IAM policies, helping to ensure compliance with various industry standards.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon ElastiCache

  • Cost
    As a premium managed service, ElastiCache can become expensive, especially for large-scale deployments or when utilizing advanced features, which may not be ideal for all budget constraints.
  • Limited Customization
    Because it is a managed service, there are limits to the customization of infrastructure and configurations when compared to self-managed solutions, which might not accommodate all specific needs.
  • Dependency on AWS Ecosystem
    Using ElastiCache ties your infrastructure to AWS, which might not be suitable for organizations seeking a multi-cloud strategy or those who wish to avoid vendor lock-in.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may face a learning curve, especially if they are not already familiar with AWS services and console navigation, potentially requiring additional training or support.
  • Regional Limitations
    Not all features may be available in every AWS region, which could impact global deployments and necessitate strategic planning for distribution and redundancy.

AWS Lambda videos

AWS Lambda Vs EC2 | Serverless Vs EC2 | EC2 Alternatives

More videos:

  • Tutorial - AWS Lambda Tutorial | AWS Tutorial for Beginners | Intro to AWS Lambda | AWS Training | Edureka
  • Tutorial - AWS Lambda | What is AWS Lambda | AWS Lambda Tutorial for Beginners | Intellipaat

Amazon ElastiCache videos

Introduction to Amazon ElastiCache for Redis

More videos:

  • Review - AWS re:Invent 2019: Supercharge your real-time apps with Amazon ElastiCache (DAT208)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to AWS Lambda and Amazon ElastiCache)
Cloud Computing
100 100%
0% 0
Databases
0 0%
100% 100
Cloud Hosting
100 100%
0% 0
NoSQL Databases
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare AWS Lambda and Amazon ElastiCache

AWS Lambda Reviews

Top 7 Firebase Alternatives for App Development in 2024
AWS Lambda is suitable for applications with varying workloads and those already using the AWS ecosystem.
Source: signoz.io

Amazon ElastiCache Reviews

Comparing the new Redis6 multithreaded I/O to Elasticache & KeyDB
KeyDB was introduced nearly a year ago as a multithreaded fork of Redis with major performance gains. Soon after Amazon announced their enhanced io handling for Redis using Elasticache. Redis is now in the process of releasing their multithreaded io option in version 6.0. Unlike Redis6 and Elasticache, KeyDB multithreads several aspects including placing the event loop on...
Source: docs.keydb.dev

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, AWS Lambda seems to be a lot more popular than Amazon ElastiCache. While we know about 275 links to AWS Lambda, we've tracked only 13 mentions of Amazon ElastiCache. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

AWS Lambda mentions (275)

View more

Amazon ElastiCache mentions (13)

  • Setting up Ruby on Rails with RVM, Puma, Mina, Nginx, Sidekiq and Redis on Amazon Linux 2
    Sidekiq (For background jobs processing)+ Redis (As persistence engine for Sidekiq). Since you are in AWS ecosystem you could also use Elasticache instead of local Redis, just parameterize correctly your Sidekiq if you want to do so. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Choosing the Right AWS Database: A Guide for Modern Applications
    Key-value databases are designed to store and retrieve data using simple key-value pairs, making them ideal for applications that require fast and simple data access. AWS offers a fully managed key-value database service called Amazon ElastiCache that supports popular key-value engines such as Redis and Memcached. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • How to Effectively Use Caching to Improve Microservices Performance
    Cloud-Based Caching Services: Evaluate the use of cloud-based caching services, such as Amazon ElastiCache or Redis Cloud, for managed caching solutions that offer scalability, resilience, and reduced maintenance overhead. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • AWS Beginner's Key Terminologies
    Amazon ElastiCache (database) Amazon ElastiCache is a web service that simplifies deploying, operating and scaling an in-memory cache in the cloud. The service improves the performance of web applications by providing information retrieval from fast, managed, in-memory caches, instead of relying entirely on slower disk-based databases. Https://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) vs ElastiCache : Which One to Use?
    Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) and ElastiCache both are fully managed caching services from AWS. DAX is designed especially for DynamoDB on the other hand ElastiCache can cache anything including DynamoDB. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing AWS Lambda and Amazon ElastiCache, you can also consider the following products

Amazon S3 - Amazon S3 is an object storage where users can store data from their business on a safe, cloud-based platform. Amazon S3 operates in 54 availability zones within 18 graphic regions and 1 local region.

Redis - Redis is an open source in-memory data structure project implementing a distributed, in-memory key-value database with optional durability.

Amazon API Gateway - Create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale

memcached - High-performance, distributed memory object caching system

Google App Engine - A powerful platform to build web and mobile apps that scale automatically.

Amazon RDS - Easy to manage relational databases optimized for total cost of ownership.