Running Redis on self-managed Kubernetes (EKS) clusters often introduces maintenance and scaling challenges. Managing resources, ensuring high availability, and maintaining performance under load can be time-consuming. By migrating to AWS ElastiCache, teams can offload management overhead while gaining scalability, resilience, and performance improvements.

This guide walks through the Redis to ElastiCache migration process from assessment and architecture design to deployment and post-migration optimization.

Why Move from Self-Managed Redis to AWS ElastiCache

While Redis on EKS offers flexibility, it also requires constant monitoring, scaling, and configuration management. Over time, issues such as high memory usage, connection instability, and performance degradation can occur.

Migrating Redis to ElastiCache helps resolve these challenges by providing a fully managed, high-performance, and highly available in-memory data store.

Key benefits of moving Redis to ElastiCache include:

  • Reduced operational overhead: AWS manages scaling, backups, failover, and patching.
  • Enhanced security: IAM integration, encryption at rest and in transit, and VPC-level isolation.
  • Improved performance: Lower latency and optimized memory usage.
  • Automatic scaling: ElastiCache dynamically adjusts to workload demands.

This transition also ensures high reliability for applications running on EKS or other AWS services.

Phase 1: Preparation and Planning

Before beginning your managed Redis migration on AWS, perform a detailed analysis of your current Redis setup and identify potential challenges.

Step 1: Assess the Existing Environment

  • Review your self-managed Redis configuration on EKS, including data volume, eviction policies, and connection limits.
  • Identify issues such as high memory usage or performance bottlenecks.

Step 2: Design the ElastiCache Architecture

  • Choose between Redis cluster mode enabled (for sharded data) or disabled (for simpler setups).
  • Plan for replication groups, parameter groups, and subnet groups to ensure scalability and isolation.
  • Align the architecture with AWS ElastiCache setup best practices, including fault-tolerant deployment across multiple Availability Zones.

Step 3: Secure and Configure the Environment

  • Create dedicated VPC subnets and security groups for ElastiCache.
  • Enable encryption, automatic backups, and maintenance windows.
  • Use Terraform or CloudFormation to define and manage infrastructure consistently.

Phase 2: Provisioning and Deployment

Step 1: Deploy ElastiCache for Redis

Use Terraform scripts or AWS Console to create the Redis cluster. Define your instance class, engine version, and replication group configuration.

Example Terraform snippet:

resource "aws_elasticache_replication_group" "redis" {
  replication_group_id          = "redis-cluster"
  engine                        = "redis"
  engine_version                 = "7.0"
  automatic_failover_enabled     = true
  node_type                      = "cache.t3.micro"
  num_cache_clusters             = 2
  parameter_group_name           = "default.redis7"
}

Step 2: Migrate Data and Configuration

  • Export Redis data from your self-managed instance using the SAVE or BGSAVE command.
  • Import the RDB file into the new ElastiCache instance using redis-cli or AWS migration tools.
  • Adjust parameter groups (e.g., maxmemory-policy, timeout, and appendonly) to match performance requirements.

Step 3: Update Application Connections

  • Update Redis connection URLs in application environment variables.
  • Ensure EKS workloads connect to ElastiCache using internal endpoints.
  • Test connectivity, authentication, and failover scenarios to confirm stability.

Phase 3: Post-Migration Optimization

Once migration is complete, focus on monitoring, optimization, and decommissioning the old setup.

Step 1: Monitor and Optimize

  • Integrate Amazon CloudWatch or Grafana dashboards to monitor CPU, memory usage, and latency.
  • Continuously adjust ElastiCache configurations for optimal performance.
  • Enable auto-failover and multi-AZ deployments for high availability.

Step 2: Decommission Old Redis Setup

  • After confirming stability, delete Helm charts or deployments from EKS.
  • Archive configurations and perform cleanup to prevent unused resource costs.

How to Connect EKS Workloads to ElastiCache

Connecting Kubernetes applications to ElastiCache is straightforward once network configurations are properly aligned.

Steps:

  1. Ensure your EKS and ElastiCache are in the same VPC or peered networks.
  2. Update your Redis client configuration in your app:

const redis = new Redis({
  host: process.env.REDIS_ENDPOINT,
  port: 6379,
  tls: {}, // for encrypted connections
});

Use AWS Secrets Manager or Parameter Store for managing Redis credentials.

  • Verify connectivity using redis-cli -h <endpoint> -p 6379.

This setup ensures secure and seamless integration between EKS pods and ElastiCache.

Key Results and Benefits

After completing the Redis to ElastiCache migration, organizations can experience measurable improvements in performance, reliability, and maintenance efficiency.

Benefits include:

  • Reduced Operational Overhead: AWS handles updates, patching, and scaling automatically.
  • Optimized Memory Utilization: Custom parameter groups eliminate unnecessary evictions.
  • Enhanced Performance: Achieved lower latency and higher throughput for Redis operations.
  • Improved Security: End-to-end encryption and IAM-based access control.

By following best practices for AWS ElastiCache setup, teams can maintain a reliable caching layer without manual intervention.

About IAMOPS

IAMOPS is the Best DevOps Services Company, specializing in cloud migration, infrastructure automation, and performance optimization.

Our expertise includes:

  • Performing managed Redis migrations on AWS.
  • Designing secure and scalable ElastiCache architectures.
  • Integrating EKS workloads with managed services for high availability.
  • Delivering DevOps automation that accelerates cloud transformation.

IAMOPS enables technology teams to achieve scalable, resilient, and efficient cloud operations through automation and best practices.

Summary

Migrating from self-managed Redis in EKS to AWS ElastiCache streamlines operations, enhances security, and significantly improves performance.

By leveraging AWS-managed infrastructure, you eliminate manual maintenance, achieve predictable scalability, and ensure continuous availability. Whether you’re optimizing resource utilization or modernizing your cloud architecture, ElastiCache migration is a strategic step toward long-term reliability and cost efficiency.