Item: Apache Geode
Rating: 7
Author: Alok Pabalkar

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are trying to use it as an experimental alternative to redis as a low latency, in-memory server to save copies of static dataloads (configuration data, data that does not change frequently etc) that is saved in our Database (MySQL). Everytime when a request is made for the above mentioned data, instead of loading the data from DB we pull it from Apache Geode

Pros and Cons

Super Fast data pull/push
Provided ACID transactions, so it works like a SQL Database
Provides replication & partitioning, so our data is never lost and extraction is super fast. NoSql like properties

Needs more supporting languages. Out of box Python, Nodejs adapters would be wonderful
Currently it supports just KV Store. But if we could cache documents or timeseries data would be great
Needs more community support, documentation.

Return on Investment

Still experimenting so difficult to quote
For a small size project/teams might be an overkill as it still has certain learning curve
For Medium to large projects with complex Data Structures that need to be queried with a fast o/p it definitely works

Alternatives Considered

Redis™*, Aerospike and Amazon ElastiCache

Still Experimenting. But looks promising as it has query capabilities over complex data structures

Key Insights

Do you think Apache Geode delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Apache Geode's feature set?

Yes

Did Apache Geode live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Apache Geode go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Apache Geode again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Redis™*, Aerospike, MySQL, Elasticsearch, Apache Kafka, Amazon Kinesis, Amazon Aurora

Usability

Still Experimenting. Initial results are good. we need to figure out if we can completely replace Redis. Cost wise if it makes sense to keep both or replacement is feasible.

Support Rating

Never contacted support

Likelihood to Recommend

The biggest advantage of using Apache Geode is DB like consistency. So for applications whose data needs to be in-memory, accessible at low latencies and most importantly writes have to be consistent, should use Apache Geode. For our application quite some amount of data is static which we store in MySQL as it can be easily manipulated. But since this data is large R/w from DB becomes expensive. So we started using Redis. Redis does a brilliant job, but with complex data structures and no query like capability, we have to manage it via code. We are experimenting with Apache Geode and it looks promising as now we can query on complex data-structures and get the required data quickly and also updates consistent.

Apache GEODE - A Wonderful Low Latency & High Consistency In-Memory Data Store

Overall Satisfaction with Apache Geode