Suboptimal Engine Selection in MemoryDB

Explanation

MemoryDB now supports Valkey, a drop-in replacement for Redis OSS offering significant cost and performance advantages. However, many deployments still default to Redis OSS, incurring higher hourly costs and unnecessary data write charges. For compatible workloads, continuing to use Redis OSS instead of Valkey represents a missed opportunity for savings and modernization.

Relevant Billing Model

MemoryDB charges based on provisioned instance hours, with costs varying by engine type. Valkey instances offer \~30% lower hourly rates and no data write charges up to 10 TB/month. Selecting Redis OSS instead of Valkey can lead to unnecessarily high compute and storage costs.

Detection

• Identify MemoryDB clusters running the Redis OSS engine rather than Valkey
• Review the MemoryDB console or cost reporting data for engine metadata
• Assess whether workloads are compatible with Valkey (which is Redis API-compatible)

Remediation

• Migrate eligible MemoryDB clusters to use the Valkey engine
• Validate API compatibility and performance requirements prior to migration
• Use zero-downtime upgrade capabilities where possible for seamless transition
• Consider making Valkey the default engine for new MemoryDB deployments