Redis is fantastic for WordPress—but its defaults are meant for a datastore, not a high-churn object cache. This guide shows you the exact Redis settings for localhost, Docker, and Amazon ElastiCache so you get a memory-bounded, low-latency cache with smart eviction and stable performance.
Learn why PHP upgrades matter, how they affect your website’s security and performance, and what Reliable Penguin customers (and any PHP-powered site owner) should know to stay current and protected.
Secure Redis connections in Drupal using password authentication When using AWS ElastiCache for Redis as a caching backend for your Drupal site, it’s important to protect access to the Redis service—not just with network-level security, but also at the application level using AUTH. This guide focuses on using a single AUTH token with Drupal’s Redis module and the PHPRedis extension, which is the most compatible approach. Using Redis AUTH Token (Single Password) AWS ElastiCache Redis supports AUTH token authentication, allowing clients to authenticate with a single password. This is the recommended method for use with PHPRedis, which does not support named user authentication. ✅ How to Enable AUTH Token in AWS In the AWS ElastiCache Console, go to your Redis cluster. Choose Modify. Under Access Control, select Redis AUTH. Enter a secure password (minimum 16 characters). Save changes and wait for the cluster to update. You can enable or modify
Secure Redis Caching in Drupal Using PHPRedis and ElastiCache TLS When using Redis as a caching layer for Drupal, encrypting the connection between your application and the Redis backend is a security best practice—especially when operating in cloud environments. Fortunately, AWS ElastiCache for Redis enables in-transit encryption (TLS) by default on newer clusters and uses the standard Redis port 6379. This guide explains how to configure the Drupal Redis module to connect securely to AWS ElastiCache Redis using PHPRedis with TLS. Prerequisites Drupal 9 or 10 site Redis module installed and enabled PHPRedis extension (php-redis) installed with TLS support An ElastiCache Redis cluster with in-transit encryption enabled (default on Redis 6+) Step 1: Confirm ElastiCache Cluster Uses In-Transit Encryption When creating your ElastiCache cluster in AWS: Ensure Encryption in transit is set to Enabled The cluster will use port 6379 for TLS connections TLS is enabled by default for
For low traffic WordPress sites, the internal cron will not run on a reliable schedule resulting in missed jobs. For high traffic sites the internal cron can result in excessive cron runs. The solution is to disable the internal cron and setup an external cronjob at the operating system level. To disable the internal cron add the following to wp-config.php: For the external cron you can use curl or wget, but my preference is wp-cli like this: On a Plesk server this might look like:
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