installing Redis or Memcached on a VPS virtual server to accelerate websites

In today's digital world, website speed is one of the critical factors for success. Users expect pages to load in seconds, and search engines reward faster websites with higher rankings. One of the simplest and most effective ways to improve your website's performance on a virtual private server (VPS) is to use caching systems such as Redis or Memcached.

In this article, we will explain what these technologies are, what their advantages are, and how you can install them on your VPS.

What is Redis and what is Memcached?

Redis – An open-source in-memory database that supports advanced data structures such as strings, lists, and sets, and offers very high speed in data retrieval.
Memcached – a simple and fast caching system, ideal for storing key-value pairs in short-term memory, with an emphasis on ease of use and high performance.

Both systems store data in RAM, which allows for much faster access than reading from disk.

Why does this speed up websites?

When visitors enter your website, the system (e.g., WordPress, Joomla, or Magento) must query the database, process the information, and display the page. This process takes time.
Redis and Memcached store the retrieved information in memory, so that the next time the same query is required, the information is loaded directly from RAM, almost instantly.

The result:

Shorter loading times
Less load on the database
Improved user experience and SEO

How to install on VPS – a basic example

The following examples are for a Debian/Ubuntu-based server. Commands may vary on other systems.

Installing Redis

sudo apt update sudo apt install redis-server -y sudo systemctl enable redis-server sudo systemctl start redis-server

Checking activity:

redis-cli ping # Should return PONG

Installing Memcached

sudo apt update sudo apt install memcached libmemcached-tools -y sudo systemctl enable memcached sudo systemctl start memcached

Checking activity:

echo stats | nc localhost 11211

Connecting to WordPress sites

Redis – Install the Redis Object Cache plugin, activate it, and configure the host and port connection (default: 127.0.0.1:6379).
Memcached – Use the W3 Total Cache or LiteSpeed Cache plugin and enable Memcached support.

Tips for proper use

Make sure you have enough free RAM on your VPS to run the cache.
Choose Redis if you need advanced features and complex storage, or Memcached for simplicity and pure speed.
Monitor performance with tools such as htop or redis-cli monitor.
Combine caching with a CDN for maximum speed acceleration.

Important to know: After installing Redis or Memcached on your server, you must also configure WordPress using the appropriate plugin (e.g., Redis Object Cache or LiteSpeed Cache) for your website to take advantage of the new cache system.
We offer a full installation and configuration service—including cache installation on the server, connection to WordPress, and optimization settings—so you can enjoy fast and secure performance starting today. Contact us for a quote.

Summary

Installing Redis or Memcached on your VPS is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to improve your website's speed. Not only
will it keep visitors on your site longer, but it will also improve your website's search engine ranking — helping your business stand out.