If an ApsaraDB for Redis instance experiences high CPU utilization, the throughput of the instance and response time of an application that connects to the instance are affected. In extreme cases, the application may stop responding. If the average CPU utilization is higher than 50% and the average peak CPU utilization within a 5-minute period is higher than 90%, the stability of the application may be affected. You must pay close attention to and troubleshoot this issue.
Search for and disable commands that cause high CPU utilization
Commands that consume a large amount of CPU resources have a time complexity of O(N) or higher. In most cases, a command with a higher time complexity consumes more CPU resources. This increases CPU utilization. For more information about the time complexity of each command, visit the Redis official website.
If ApsaraDB for Redis runs commands that consume a large amount of CPU resources, pending requests are piled up in the queue due to single-threading. This slows down the response of applications. In some cases, an ApsaraDB for Redis instance may be overwhelmed by pending requests. An application may be disconnected due to these requests timing out. In addition, requests may be directly forwarded to backend databases and cause a cache avalanche.
Optimize hotkeys
Issue:
A cluster instance or a read/write splitting instance is used. For more information about cluster instances and read/write splitting instances, see Cluster master-replica instances and Read/write splitting instances. The CPU utilization is high on some data nodes in the instance.
Solution:
- Enable the proxy query cache feature. After you enable this feature, proxy nodes cache
the request and response data of hotkeys. If a proxy node receives a duplicate request
during the validity period of the cached data, the proxy node directly returns a response
to the client without the need to interact with backend data shards. This helps prevent
skewed requests caused by hotkeys that receive a large number of read requests. For
more information, see Use proxy query cache to address issues caused by hotkeys.
Note This feature is supported only by performance-enhanced instances of the ApsaraDB for Redis Enhanced Edition (Tair) in the cluster architecture. For more information about performance-enhanced instances and cluster instances, see Performance-enhanced instances and Cluster master-replica instances.
- Analyze the slow logs and audit logs of corresponding nodes, and then check the hotkeys on each node. This way, you can resolve the issue or slightly decrease CPU utilization. For more information, see Use the real-time key statistics feature.
Optimize short-lived connections
Issue:
Connections are frequently established to an ApsaraDB for Redis instance. As a result, a large amount of resources of the ApsaraDB for Redis instance are consumed. In this case, CPU utilization is high, the number of established connections is large, and the queries per second (QPS) does not reach the expected value.
Solution:
- Change short-lived connections into persistent connections. For example, create a JedisPool connection pool. For more information, see Jedis client.
- Change the instance into a performance-enhanced instance to optimize the processing of short-lived connections. For more information about performance-enhanced instances, see Performance-enhanced instances.
Disable AOF persistence
Issue:
By default, append-only file (AOF) persistence is enabled for ApsaraDB for Redis instances. If an ApsaraDB for Redis instance runs with heavy loads, frequent AOF operations may increase CPU utilization.
Solution:
Disable AOF persistence if this does not adversely affect your business. In addition, you can back up the Redis data during off-peak hours or during the maintenance window to minimize the impact.
Optimize proxy node connections and the use of pipelines
Issue:
The performance trends of a cluster instance or read/write splitting instance are displayed in the ApsaraDB for Redis console. The CPU utilization of proxy nodes is unevenly distributed, and large differences exist between the maximum and minimum CPU utilization.

Solution:
Evaluate the service performance
The preceding methods are used to optimize the performance of your instance. If the average CPU utilization still exceeds 50% during normal business operations, the instance may have a performance bottleneck.
To resolve this issue, first check for commands and requests from application hosts that may degrade the instance performance. If such commands or requests exist, you must optimize your business system. If no such commands or requests are found but the CPU utilization is still high, we recommend that you upgrade the instance specifications to ensure business stability. You can also upgrade the instance to a cluster instance or read/write splitting instance. For more information about how to upgrade an instance, see Change the configurations of an instance.