Caching Layers (ElastiCache / Redis)

Summary

An in-memory data store sitting in front of a database to serve frequently-accessed data with far lower latency — reduces database load and dramatically speeds up read-heavy application paths.

• 1Set up a managed Redis instance and practice basic get/set operations.
• 2Learn the cache-aside pattern: check cache first, fall back to database, then populate cache.
• 3Understand cache invalidation as the hardest part of caching correctly.