Minio vs Redis: What are the differences?

Introduction:

In this document, we will discuss the key differences between Minio and Redis.

1. Architecture: Minio is an object storage server that follows the S3 API, providing high-performance and scalable storage for unstructured data. It is designed to be self-hosted and can easily be deployed in a distributed setup. On the other hand, Redis is an in-memory data structure store that can be used as a database, cache, and message broker. It supports various data structures like strings, lists, sets, hashes, and more, and is known for its speed and versatility.

2. Data Persistence: Minio stores objects durably in disk-based backends like RAID, NAS, or distributed File Systems. It provides fault-tolerance and high availability by replicating data across multiple drives or servers. In contrast, while Redis is primarily an in-memory database, it can also support persistence to disk. It offers different persistence modes, including snapshotting and append-only file (AOF) persistence, to ensure data persistence on disk.

3. Data Manipulation: Minio allows users to store and retrieve large objects and files, making it suitable for applications that require storing multimedia files, backups, or data archives. It provides an S3-compatible RESTful API and SDKs in various programming languages for easy integration. On the other hand, Redis provides a rich set of data manipulation operations for the supported data structures. It is often used as a cache or a key-value store and supports atomic operations like incrementing a value or appending to a list.

4. Scalability: Minio is designed to scale horizontally, allowing users to expand storage capacity by adding more drives or servers to the deployment. It can also distribute data across multiple servers using erasure coding for improved fault-tolerance and reduced storage overhead. Redis, on the other hand, can scale vertically by adding more memory to a single server or can be clustered to achieve horizontal scalability across multiple nodes.

5. Data Replication: Minio supports data replication across multiple drives or servers to ensure data availability and fault tolerance. It allows users to define the replication factor and automatically replicates data to multiple drives or servers based on the chosen configuration. Redis, on the other hand, does not provide built-in data replication. However, it can be configured in a clustered mode to achieve data replication and high availability.

6. Supported Data Types: Minio primarily deals with unstructured data, storing and retrieving objects and files. It follows the S3 API, enabling it to integrate seamlessly with applications that are built to work with S3-compatible storage. Redis, on the other hand, supports various structured and unstructured data types, including strings, lists, sets, sorted sets, hashes, bitmaps, and more. It provides specific data manipulation operations for each data type.

In summary, Minio is an object storage server focused on scalability, durability, and compatibility with the S3 API, while Redis is an in-memory data structure store known for its speed, versatility, and support for various data types. While Minio excels in handling large objects and provides fault-tolerant storage, Redis offers fast data manipulation and serves as a versatile cache or key-value store.