Garnet Has a Free API: Microsoft's High-Performance Redis-Compatible Cache

#redis #database #dotnet #opensource

Garnet is a new remote cache-store from Microsoft Research that implements the Redis RESP protocol. Written in C#, it delivers better throughput and lower latency than Redis with features like server-side stored procedures.

What Is Garnet?

Garnet is a high-performance cache-store that offers significantly better throughput and scalability than existing solutions. It uses a novel storage engine based on FASTER and provides Redis-compatible API with extensions.

Key Features:

Redis RESP protocol compatible
Better throughput than Redis
Server-side stored procedures (C#)
Cluster mode with sharding
TLS encryption
Object store for complex types
Pub/Sub support
Checkpoint and recovery

Quick Start

# Docker
docker run -d --name garnet -p 6379:6379 ghcr.io/microsoft/garnet:latest

# Or build from source
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/garnet.git
cd garnet
dotnet run -c Release -f net8.0 --project Garnet

# Connect with any Redis client!
redis-cli -p 6379

Garnet API (Redis-Compatible)

import redis

# Same Redis client works!
r = redis.Redis(host="localhost", port=6379)

# String operations
r.set("session:abc123", "user-42")
r.expire("session:abc123", 3600)
print(r.get("session:abc123").decode())

# Hash operations
r.hset("cache:product:1", mapping={
    "name": "Laptop",
    "price": "999.99",
    "cached_at": "2026-03-29T10:00:00Z"
})

# List operations (job queue)
r.lpush("jobs:pending", "job-1", "job-2", "job-3")
job = r.rpop("jobs:pending")
print(f"Processing: {job.decode()}")

# Sorted sets
r.zadd("trending", {"ai-tools": 500, "kubernetes": 320, "rust": 280})
top = r.zrevrange("trending", 0, 4, withscores=True)
for topic, score in top:
    print(f"{topic.decode()}: {int(score)}")

# Streams
r.xadd("audit", {"action": "login", "user": "admin", "ip": "192.168.1.1"})

Garnet Extensions

// Server-side stored procedures (C#)
// Register custom commands in Garnet
public class RateLimiter : CustomTransactionProcedure
{
    public override bool Execute()
    {
        var key = GetNextArg().ToString();
        var limit = int.Parse(GetNextArg().ToString());
        var window = int.Parse(GetNextArg().ToString());

        var count = api.StringIncrement(key);
        if (count == 1) api.KeyExpire(key, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(window));

        WriteSimpleString(count <= limit ? "ALLOWED" : "DENIED");
        return true;
    }
}

Garnet vs Redis vs KeyDB

Feature	Garnet	Redis	KeyDB
Language	C# (.NET)	C	C++
Threading	Multi-threaded	Single	Multi
Stored procs	C#	Lua	Lua/JS
License	MIT	SSPL	BSD
Storage	FASTER engine	In-memory	In-memory+SSD
By	Microsoft	Redis Ltd	Snap

Resources

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