Tair (Redis OSS-compatible) offers two instance architectures — standard and cluster — each with an optional read/write splitting mode. Choose based on your data volume, throughput requirements, and read/write ratio.
Key concepts
A Tair instance is built from the following components:
|
Component |
Description |
|
Node |
The smallest unit of a Tair deployment. Each node runs a Redis-compatible process. |
|
Shard |
A grouping of nodes that stores a subset of data. In a cluster instance, data is partitioned across multiple shards. |
|
Master node |
The node that handles write operations within a shard or standard instance. |
|
Replica node |
A copy of the master node that provides failover capability. If the master node fails, workloads switch over to the replica node. |
|
Read-only node |
An additional node that serves read traffic only. Available when read/write splitting is enabled. |
|
Proxy node |
A routing layer that distributes read and write requests to the appropriate nodes. Used in cluster proxy mode and read/write splitting configurations. |
Choose an architecture
|
Dimension |
Standard architecture |
Cluster architecture |
|
Internal structure |
One master node and one or more replica nodes |
Multiple shards, each with its own master node and one or more replica nodes |
|
Data partitioning |
No. All data resides on a single shard. |
Yes. Data is distributed across shards. |
|
Best for |
Small data volumes with stable query rates |
Large data volumes, high QPS, or throughput-intensive workloads |
|
Read/write splitting |
Supported. Add read-only nodes and proxy nodes. |
Supported. Add read-only nodes per shard. |
Both architectures support dynamically enabling read/write splitting.
Choose standard if your dataset fits on a single node and your query rate is predictable. Choose cluster if you need horizontal scalability — either because data volume exceeds single-node capacity or because your workload requires parallelism across shards.
Standard architecture
A standard instance uses a master-replica architecture. The master node handles all read and write operations, while the replica node maintains a real-time copy of the data. If the master node fails, workloads switch over to the replica node automatically.
When to use standard architecture:
Your data fits on a single instance.
Your query rate is stable and does not exceed single-node capacity.
You need persistent storage with high availability.
Standard architecture with read/write splitting
When read traffic exceeds the master node's capacity, enable read/write splitting to scale read performance. This mode adds multiple proxy nodes and read-only nodes alongside the base master-replica pair.
Component roles:
Proxy nodes — Route write requests to the master node and distribute read requests across the master node and read-only nodes.
Read-only nodes — Serve read traffic and offload the master node.
When to use this configuration:
Read traffic is high and the workload is read-heavy.
You need persistent storage with the ability to scale read throughput.
Cluster architecture
In a cluster instance, data is distributed across multiple shards. Each shard uses a multi-node master-replica architecture, providing both horizontal scalability and high availability.
When to use cluster architecture:
Data volume exceeds single-node capacity.
Your workload requires high QPS.
Throughput-intensive operations benefit from parallel processing across shards.
Cluster architecture with read/write splitting
When read traffic exceeds the capacity of individual shard master nodes, enable read/write splitting for the cluster. Each shard switches from a standard master-replica configuration to a read/write splitting architecture, with dedicated read-only nodes to handle read traffic.
When to use this configuration:
Read traffic exceeds the master node's capacity within individual shards.
Overall read throughput needs to scale beyond what master nodes alone can provide.
Editions, series types, and engine versions
Architecture is one of several dimensions that define a Tair instance:
|
Dimension |
Examples |
|
Edition |
Redis Open-Source Edition, Tair (Enterprise Edition) |
|
Series type |
DRAM-based instances |
|
Engine version |
Redis 5.0, Redis 7.0 |
The architecture descriptions on this page apply across all editions, series types, and engine versions. For detailed specifications, see: