# Flex and Auto Tiering quick start

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  "title": "Flex and Auto Tiering quick start",
  "description": "Get started with Flex and Auto Tiering quickly, creating a cluster and database using flash storage.",
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  "tableOfContents": {"sections":[{"id":"before-deployment","title":"Before deployment"},{"children":[{"id":"bare-metal-vm-cloud-instance","title":"Bare metal, VM, Cloud instance"},{"id":"dockerbased-installation","title":"Docker-based installation"}],"id":"install-redis-software","title":"Install Redis Software"},{"id":"prepare-and-format-flash-memory","title":"Prepare and format flash memory"},{"id":"set-up-a-clusterand-enable-flex","title":"Set up a cluster and enable Flex"},{"id":"create-a-database","title":"Create a database"},{"id":"connect-to-your-database","title":"Connect to your database"},{"id":"next-steps","title":"Next steps"}]}

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```



This article includes a quick start for Flex and its predecessor Auto Tiering. For more detailed information about Flex, see the dedicated [Flex databases](https://redis.io/docs/latest/operate/rs/flex) section instead.


This page guides you through a quick setup of [Flex and Auto Tiering](https://redis.io/docs/latest/operate/rs/databases/flash) with a single node for testing and demo purposes.

For production environments, you can find more detailed installation instructions in the [install and setup](https://redis.io/docs/latest/operate/rs/installing-upgrading) section.

The steps to set up a Redis Software cluster using Flex
with a single node are:

1. Install Redis Software or run it in a Docker
    container.
1. Set up a Redis Software cluster with Flex.
1. Create a new database with Flex enabled.
1. Connect to your new database.

## Before deployment

Before you set up a flash-enabled cluster and create a Flex or Auto Tiering database, consider the following:

- Avoid a large number of keys or long key names. With Auto Tiering, all key names are stored in RAM regardless of whether their values are on flash. High key count alone can exhaust the RAM limit even when individual key names are short.

- Avoid large collection types (hashes, sets, or lists with millions of elements) whose total serialized size approaches or exceeds the RAM limit. Unlike scalar values, large collections cannot be partially offloaded to flash and must fit in RAM when accessed.

- Databases cannot store keys or values larger than 4GB in flash storage. Keys or values larger than 4GB are stored in RAM only. If oversized keys consume the shard's available RAM, the shard can return out-of-memory errors even when flash storage has free space remaining.

## Install Redis Software

### Bare metal, VM, Cloud instance

To install on bare metal, a virtual machine, or an instance:

1. Download the binaries from the [Redis Software download center](https://cloud.redis.io/#/sign-up/software?direct=true).

1. Upload the binaries to a Linux-based operating system.

1. Extract the image:

    ```sh
    tar -vxf <downloaded tar file name>
    ```

1. After the `tar` command completes, you can find a new `install.sh` script in the current directory:

    ```sh
    sudo ./install.sh -y
    ```

### Docker-based installation {#dockerbased-installation}

For testing purposes, you can run a Redis Software
Docker container on Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

```sh
docker run -d --cap-add sys_resource --name rp -p 8443:8443 -p 12000:12000 redislabs/redis:latest
```

## Prepare and format flash memory

After you [install Redis Software](#install-redis-enterprise-software), use the `prepare_flash` script to prepare and format flash memory:

```sh
sudo /opt/redislabs/sbin/prepare_flash.sh
```

This script finds unformatted disks and mounts them as RAID partitions in `/var/opt/redislabs/flash`.

To verify the disk configuration, run:

```sh
sudo lsblk
```

## Set up a cluster and enable Flex

1. Direct your browser to `https://localhost:8443` on the host machine to
see the Redis Software Cluster Manager UI.

    > [!NOTE]
    > Depending on your browser, you may see a certificate error.
    > Choose "continue to the website" to go to the setup screen.
    >

1. Select **Create new cluster**.

1. Set up account credentials for a cluster administrator, then select **Next** to proceed to cluster setup.

1. Enter your cluster license key if you have one. Otherwise, the cluster uses the trial version.

1. Provide a cluster FQDN such as `mycluster.local`, then select **Next**.

1. In the **Storage configuration** section, turn on the **Enable flash storage** toggle.

1. Select **Create cluster**.

1. Select **OK** to confirm that you are aware of the replacement of the HTTPS TLS
certificate on the node, and proceed through the browser warning.

## Create a database

On the **Databases** screen:

1. Select **Quick database**.

1. Verify **Flash** is selected for **Runs on**.

    ![Create a quick database with Runs on Flash selected.](https://redis.io/docs/latest/images/rs/screenshots/databases/quick-db-flash-7-8-2.png)

1. Enter `12000` for the endpoint **Port** number.

1. _(Optional)_ Select **Full options** to see available alerts.

1. Select **Create**.

You now have a database with Flex enabled!

## Connect to your database

After you create the database, you can connect to it and store data. See [Test client connection](https://redis.io/docs/latest/operate/rs/databases/connect/test-client-connectivity) for connection options and examples.

## Next steps

To see the true performance and scale of Flex, you must tune your I/O path and set the flash path to the mounted path of SSD or NVMe flash memory as that is what it is designed to run on. For more information, see [Flex and Auto Tiering](https://redis.io/docs/latest/operate/rs/databases/flash).