Horizontal scaling with ElastiCache Redis: Stop getting burned by hot keys and shards

Horizontal scaling in cloud computing, particularly with Redis and ElastiCache, can be challenged by issues such as hot keys and hot shards, which occur when traffic is unevenly concentrated on specific keys or shards, leading to resource exhaustion and performance bottlenecks. Hot keys result in overburdened hosts due to high write loads, while hot shards arise from uneven traffic distribution across shards, causing CPU, memory, and network saturation. Mitigation strategies include reducing write volume, increasing replication for read loads, reassigning hash slots to balance traffic, or scaling the entire cluster to distribute workload more evenly. However, these solutions often involve manual intervention, potential downtime, or increased costs. Momento Cache is highlighted as a solution that automatically handles scaling and optimizes infrastructure to manage these challenges without requiring downtime or maintenance, providing reliable performance and simplifying cache management.