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memcached VS Apache Ignite

Compare memcached VS Apache Ignite and see what are their differences

memcached logo memcached

High-performance, distributed memory object caching system

Apache Ignite logo Apache Ignite

high-performance, integrated and distributed in-memory platform for computing and transacting on...
  • memcached Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-23
  • Apache Ignite Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-08

memcached features and specs

  • High Performance
    Memcached is incredibly fast and efficient at caching data in memory, enabling quick data retrieval and reducing the load on databases. Its in-memory nature significantly reduces latency.
  • Scalability
    Memcached can be easily scaled horizontally by adding more nodes to the caching cluster. This allows it to handle increased loads and large datasets without performance degradation.
  • Simplicity
    Memcached has a simple design and API, making it easy to implement and use. Developers can quickly integrate it into their applications without a steep learning curve.
  • Open Source
    Memcached is free and open-source software, which means it can be used and modified without any licensing fees. This makes it a cost-effective solution for caching.
  • Language Agnostic
    Memcached supports multiple programming languages through various client libraries, making it versatile and suitable for use in diverse tech stacks.

Possible disadvantages of memcached

  • Data Volatility
    Memcached stores data in RAM, so all cached data is lost if the server is restarted or crashes. This makes it unsuitable for storing critical or persistent data.
  • Limited Data Types
    Memcached primarily supports simple key-value pairs. It lacks the rich data types and more complex structures supported by some other caching solutions like Redis.
  • No Persistence
    Memcached does not offer any data persistence features. It cannot save data to disk, so all information is ephemeral and will be lost on system reset.
  • Size Limitation
    Memcached has a memory limit for each instance, thus, large-scale applications may need to manage multiple instances and ensure data is properly distributed.
  • Security
    Memcached does not provide built-in security features such as authentication or encryption. This can be a concern in environments where data privacy and security are critical.

Apache Ignite features and specs

  • In-Memory Data Grid
    Apache Ignite provides a robust in-memory data grid that can drastically improve data access speeds by storing data in memory across distributed nodes.
  • Scalability
    The system is designed to scale horizontally, allowing users to add more nodes to handle increased loads, thereby ensuring high availability and performance.
  • Distributed Compute Capabilities
    Ignite supports parallel execution of tasks across cluster nodes, which is beneficial for complex computations and real-time processing.
  • Persistence
    Although primarily in-memory, Ignite offers a durable and transactional Persistence layer that ensures data can be persisted on disk, providing a hybrid in-memory and persistent storage solution.
  • SQL Queries
    Ignite offers support for ANSI-99 SQL, which allows users to execute complex SQL queries across distributed datasets easily.
  • Integration
    It integrates well with existing Hadoop and Spark setups, allowing users to enhance their existing data pipelines with Igniteโ€™s capabilities.
  • Fault Tolerance
    Apache Ignite includes built-in mechanisms for recovery and ensures that data copies are maintained across nodes for resilience against node failures.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Ignite

  • Complexity
    Apache Ignite can be complex to set up and manage, especially when configuring a large, distributed system with multiple nodes.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running an in-memory data grid like Ignite requires significant memory resources, which can increase operational costs.
  • Learning Curve
    Due to its comprehensive features and distributed nature, there is a steep learning curve associated with effectively utilizing Ignite.
  • Configuration Overhead
    There is substantial configuration overhead involved to optimize performance and ensure proper cluster management.
  • Community Support
    Although it has active development, the community support might not be as robust compared to other more mature solutions, possibly leading to challenges in finding solutions to niche issues.
  • YARN Dependence
    For those looking to integrate with Hadoop, Ignite's optimal performance is sometimes reliant on Hadoop YARN, which can introduce additional complexity.

Analysis of memcached

Overall verdict

  • Memcached is a solid choice for applications that require distributed caching to improve scalability and performance. It's particularly beneficial for web applications handling high traffic and needing fast, efficient data retrieval.

Why this product is good

  • Memcached is considered good due to its high performance, simplicity, and effectiveness in enhancing the speed of dynamic web applications by alleviating database load. It operates by storing data in memory, which allows for quick retrieval of cached objects and reduces the need to frequently query the database. Its distributed architecture, open-source nature, and widespread language support make it a flexible and reliable choice for caching.

Recommended for

  • Web developers looking to improve the speed and scalability of applications.
  • Organizations needing a simple and effective caching solution to reduce database load.
  • Projects that demand quick deployment of a caching solution with support across multiple programming languages.

memcached videos

Course Preview: Using Memcached and Varnish to Speed Up Your Linux Web App

Apache Ignite videos

Best Practices for a Microservices Architecture on Apache Ignite

More videos:

  • Review - Apache Ignite + GridGain powering up banks and financial institutions with distributed systems

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to memcached and Apache Ignite)
Databases
72 72%
28% 28
NoSQL Databases
75 75%
25% 25
Key-Value Database
78 78%
22% 22
Graph Databases
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare memcached and Apache Ignite

memcached Reviews

Redis vs. KeyDB vs. Dragonfly vs. Skytable | Hacker News
Quick ask: I donรขย€ย™t see รขย€ยœsomeรขย€ย of the other offering out there like MemCachedรขย€ยฆ what was the criteria used to select these? I donรขย€ย™t see any source of how the test where run, specs of the systems, how the DB where set up, etc. Would be very valuable to have in order to attempt to re-validate these test on our own platform. I also came back and saw some of your updates...
Memcached vs Redis - More Different Than You Would Expect
So knowing how the difference between Redis and memcached in-memory usage, lets see what this means. Memcached slabs once assigned never change their size. This means it is possible to poison your memcached cluster and really waste memory. If you load your empty memcached cluster with lots of 1 MB items, then all of the slabs will be allocated to that size. Adding a 80 KB...
Redis vs. Memcached: In-Memory Data Storageย Systems
Memcached itself does not support distributed mode. You can only achieve the distributed storage of Memcached on the client side through distributed algorithms such as Consistent Hash. The figure below demonstrates the distributed storage implementation schema of Memcached. Before the client side sends data to the Memcached cluster, it first calculates the target node of the...
Source: medium.com
Why Redis beats Memcached for caching
Both Memcached and Redis are mature and hugely popular open source projects. Memcached was originally developed by Brad Fitzpatrick in 2003 for the LiveJournal website. Since then, Memcached has been rewritten in C (the original implementation was in Perl) and put in the public domain, where it has become a cornerstone of modern Web applications. Current development of...

Apache Ignite Reviews

We have no reviews of Apache Ignite yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, memcached seems to be a lot more popular than Apache Ignite. While we know about 37 links to memcached, we've tracked only 3 mentions of Apache Ignite. 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.

memcached mentions (37)

  • Redis vs. Memcached: How to Choose Your NoSQL Champion
    Memcached has a single, focused goal: to be a high-performance, distributed, in-memory object caching system. It stores all data in RAM, which means reads and writes are incredibly fast. But its main weakness is just as clear: data is completely lost when the service restarts, as it offers no persistence. Its data model is a simple key-value store, limited to basic get, set, and delete operations. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • MySQL Performance Tuning Techniques
    Memcached can help when lightning-fast performance is needed. These tools store frequently accessed data, such as session details, API responses, or product prices, in RAM. This reduces the laid on your primary database, so you can deliver microsecond response times. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • 10 Best Practices for API Rate Limiting in 2025
    In-memory tools like Redis or Memcached for fast Data retrieval. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Outgrowing Postgres: Handling increased user concurrency
    A caching layer using popular in-memory databases like Redis or Memcached can go a long way in addressing Postgres connection overload issues by being able to handle a much larger concurrent request load. Adding a cache lets you serve frequent reads from memory instead, taking pressure off Postgres. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • API Caching: Techniques for Better Performance
    Memcached โ€” Free and well-known for its simplicity, Memcached is a distributed and powerful memory object caching system. It uses key-value pairs to store small data chunks from database calls, API calls, and page rendering. It is available on Windows. Strings are the only supported data type. Its client-server architecture distributes the cache logic, with half of the logic implemented on the server and the other... - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
View more

Apache Ignite mentions (3)

  • API Caching: Techniques for Better Performance
    Apache Ignite โ€” Free and open-source, Apache Ignite is a horizontally scalable key-value cache store system with a robust multi-model database that powers APIs to compute distributed data. Ignite provides a security system that can authenticate users' credentials on the server. It can also be used for system workload acceleration, real-time data processing, analytics, and as a graph-centric programming model. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Ask HN: P2P Databases?
    Ignite works as you describe: https://ignite.apache.org/ I wouldn't really recommend this approach, I would think more in terms of subscriptions and topics and less of a 'database'. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • .NET and Apache Ignite: Testing Cache and SQL API features โ€” Part I
    Last days, I started using Apache Ignite as a cache strategy for some applications. Apache Ignite is an open-source In-Memory Data Grid, distributed database, caching, and high-performance computing platform. Source: about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing memcached and Apache Ignite, you can also consider the following products

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

MongoDB - MongoDB (from "humongous") is a scalable, high-performance NoSQL database.

CouchBase - Document-Oriented NoSQL Database

Apache Cassandra - The Apache Cassandra database is the right choice when you need scalability and high availability without compromising performance.

Hazelcast - Clustering and highly scalable data distribution platform for Java

Aerospike - Aerospike is a high-performing NoSQL database supporting high transaction volumes with low latency.