[json] Redis strings vs Redis hashes to represent JSON: efficiency?

I want to store a JSON payload into redis. There's really 2 ways I can do this:

1. One using a simple string keys and values.
   key:user, value:payload (the entire JSON blob which can be 100-200 KB)

   SET user:1 payload

2. Using hashes

   HSET user:1 username "someone"
HSET user:1 location "NY"
HSET user:1 bio "STRING WITH OVER 100 lines"

Keep in mind that if I use a hash, the value length isn't predictable. They're not all short such as the bio example above.

Which is more memory efficient? Using string keys and values, or using a hash?

Some additions to a given set of answers:

First of all if you going to use Redis hash efficiently you must know a keys count max number and values max size - otherwise if they break out hash-max-ziplist-value or hash-max-ziplist-entries Redis will convert it to practically usual key/value pairs under a hood. ( see hash-max-ziplist-value, hash-max-ziplist-entries ) And breaking under a hood from a hash options IS REALLY BAD, because each usual key/value pair inside Redis use +90 bytes per pair.

It means that if you start with option two and accidentally break out of max-hash-ziplist-value you will get +90 bytes per EACH ATTRIBUTE you have inside user model! ( actually not the +90 but +70 see console output below )

 # you need me-redis and awesome-print gems to run exact code
 redis = Redis.include(MeRedis).configure( hash_max_ziplist_value: 64, hash_max_ziplist_entries: 512 ).new 
  => #<Redis client v4.0.1 for redis://127.0.0.1:6379/0> 
 > redis.flushdb
  => "OK" 
 > ap redis.info(:memory)
    {
                "used_memory" => "529512",
          **"used_memory_human" => "517.10K"**,
            ....
    }
  => nil 
 # me_set( 't:i' ... ) same as hset( 't:i/512', i % 512 ... )    
 # txt is some english fictionary book around 56K length, 
 # so we just take some random 63-symbols string from it 
 > redis.pipelined{ 10000.times{ |i| redis.me_set( "t:#{i}", txt[rand(50000), 63] ) } }; :done
 => :done 
 > ap redis.info(:memory)
  {
               "used_memory" => "1251944",
         **"used_memory_human" => "1.19M"**, # ~ 72b per key/value
            .....
  }
  > redis.flushdb
  => "OK" 
  # setting **only one value** +1 byte per hash of 512 values equal to set them all +1 byte 
  > redis.pipelined{ 10000.times{ |i| redis.me_set( "t:#{i}", txt[rand(50000), i % 512 == 0 ? 65 : 63] ) } }; :done 
  > ap redis.info(:memory)
   {
               "used_memory" => "1876064",
         "used_memory_human" => "1.79M",   # ~ 134 bytes per pair  
          ....
   }
    redis.pipelined{ 10000.times{ |i| redis.set( "t:#{i}", txt[rand(50000), 65] ) } };
    ap redis.info(:memory)
    {
             "used_memory" => "2262312",
          "used_memory_human" => "2.16M", #~155 byte per pair i.e. +90 bytes    
           ....
    }

For TheHippo answer, comments on Option one are misleading:

hgetall/hmset/hmget to the rescue if you need all fields or multiple get/set operation.

For BMiner answer.

Third option is actually really fun, for dataset with max(id) < has-max-ziplist-value this solution has O(N) complexity, because, surprise, Reddis store small hashes as array-like container of length/key/value objects!

But many times hashes contain just a few fields. When hashes are small we can instead just encode them in an O(N) data structure, like a linear array with length-prefixed key value pairs. Since we do this only when N is small, the amortized time for HGET and HSET commands is still O(1): the hash will be converted into a real hash table as soon as the number of elements it contains will grow too much

But you should not worry, you'll break hash-max-ziplist-entries very fast and there you go you are now actually at solution number 1.

Second option will most likely go to the fourth solution under a hood because as question states:

Keep in mind that if I use a hash, the value length isn't predictable. They're not all short such as the bio example above.

And as you already said: the fourth solution is the most expensive +70 byte per each attribute for sure.

My suggestion how to optimize such dataset:

You've got two options:

1. If you cannot guarantee max size of some user attributes than you go for first solution and if memory matter is crucial than compress user json before store in redis.

2. If you can force max size of all attributes. Than you can set hash-max-ziplist-entries/value and use hashes either as one hash per user representation OR as hash memory optimization from this topic of a Redis guide: https://redis.io/topics/memory-optimization and store user as json string. Either way you may also compress long user attributes.

This article can provide a lot of insight here: http://redis.io/topics/memory-optimization

There are many ways to store an array of Objects in Redis (spoiler: I like option 1 for most use cases):

1. Store the entire object as JSON-encoded string in a single key and keep track of all Objects using a set (or list, if more appropriate). For example:

   INCR id:users
   SET user:{id} '{"name":"Fred","age":25}'
   SADD users {id}
   

   Generally speaking, this is probably the best method in most cases. If there are a lot of fields in the Object, your Objects are not nested with other Objects, and you tend to only access a small subset of fields at a time, it might be better to go with option 2.

   Advantages: considered a "good practice." Each Object is a full-blown Redis key. JSON parsing is fast, especially when you need to access many fields for this Object at once. Disadvantages: slower when you only need to access a single field.

2. Store each Object's properties in a Redis hash.

   INCR id:users
   HMSET user:{id} name "Fred" age 25
   SADD users {id}
   

   Advantages: considered a "good practice." Each Object is a full-blown Redis key. No need to parse JSON strings. Disadvantages: possibly slower when you need to access all/most of the fields in an Object. Also, nested Objects (Objects within Objects) cannot be easily stored.

3. Store each Object as a JSON string in a Redis hash.

   INCR id:users
   HMSET users {id} '{"name":"Fred","age":25}'
   

   This allows you to consolidate a bit and only use two keys instead of lots of keys. The obvious disadvantage is that you can't set the TTL (and other stuff) on each user Object, since it is merely a field in the Redis hash and not a full-blown Redis key.

   Advantages: JSON parsing is fast, especially when you need to access many fields for this Object at once. Less "polluting" of the main key namespace. Disadvantages: About same memory usage as #1 when you have a lot of Objects. Slower than #2 when you only need to access a single field. Probably not considered a "good practice."

4. Store each property of each Object in a dedicated key.

   INCR id:users
   SET user:{id}:name "Fred"
   SET user:{id}:age 25
   SADD users {id}
   

   According to the article above, this option is almost never preferred (unless the property of the Object needs to have specific TTL or something).

   Advantages: Object properties are full-blown Redis keys, which might not be overkill for your app. Disadvantages: slow, uses more memory, and not considered "best practice." Lots of polluting of the main key namespace.

Overall Summary

Option 4 is generally not preferred. Options 1 and 2 are very similar, and they are both pretty common. I prefer option 1 (generally speaking) because it allows you to store more complicated Objects (with multiple layers of nesting, etc.) Option 3 is used when you really care about not polluting the main key namespace (i.e. you don't want there to be a lot of keys in your database and you don't care about things like TTL, key sharding, or whatever).

If I got something wrong here, please consider leaving a comment and allowing me to revise the answer before downvoting. Thanks! :)