Azure Cache for Redis vs Hazelcast IMDG comparison

Azure Cache for Redis provides an in-memory data store based on the open-source software Redis. When used as a cache, Redis improves the performance and scalability of systems that rely heavily on backend data-stores. Performance is improved by copying frequently accessed data to fast storage located close to the application. With Azure Cache for Redis, this fast storage is located in-memory instead of being loaded from disk by a database.

Azure Cache for Redis can be used as an in-memory data structure store, a distributed non-relational database, and a message broker. Application performance is improved by taking advantage of the low-latency, high-throughput performance of the Redis engine.

Azure Cache for Redis provides access to a secure, dedicated Redis cache. Azure Cache for Redis is managed by Microsoft, hosted within Azure, and accessible to any application within or outside of Azure.

An IMDG (in-memory data grid) is a set of networked/clustered computers that pool together their random access memory (RAM) to let applications share data structures with other applications running in the cluster.

The primary advantage is speed, which has become critical in an environment with billions of mobile, IoT devices and other sources continuously streaming data. With all relevant information in RAM in an IMDG, there is no need to traverse a network to remote storage for transaction processing. The difference in speed is significant – minutes vs. sub-millisecond response times for complex transactions done millions of times per second.