Memcached is a high-performance, open-source, distributed memory caching system used to enhance the performance of web applications. It temporarily stores frequently accessed data — such as database queries, API calls, or data fragments — in memory (RAM). This reduces data retrieval times, decreases server load, and enables faster application responses.
Key Features of Memcached
- Key-Value Storage: Data is stored in simple key-value pairs, allowing for quick access and easy management.
- Memory-Based Operation: Data is held directly in RAM, providing much faster read/write performance compared to disk-based I/O operations.
- Distributed Architecture: It can run on multiple servers for horizontal scalability, maintaining high performance even in large-scale applications.
- Easy Integration: Compatible with popular programming languages and frameworks like PHP, Python, Java, Ruby, and Node.js.
- Expiration Mechanism: A specific expiration time (TTL – Time To Live) can be set for cached data, after which it is automatically deleted.