Overview
This is a repackaged software product wherein additional charges apply for hardening, security configuration, and support.
WHAT IS MEMCACHED
Memcached is a high-performance, distributed in-memory object caching system, implemented as a single multithreaded C daemon built on libevent. It stores arbitrary key-value pairs in RAM to take load off databases and APIs, with a slab allocator, LRU eviction, per-key TTL expiry, atomic increment/decrement and compare-and-swap, and text, binary and meta protocols. Applications shard transparently across nodes using consistent hashing in the client, with mature client libraries for PHP, Python, Java, Node.js, Go, Ruby and most other languages. It is the battle-tested caching layer behind many of the largest web platforms. Memcached is in-memory only with no persistence by design - the cache is rebuilt by the application after a restart. BSD-3-Clause license, no vendor lock-in.
WHAT THIS AMI ADDS
Security hardening:
- SASL authentication required at first boot - a unique random credential is generated, not a default or empty password
- Bound to the private interface and loopback only - never 0.0.0.0, never exposed to the internet
- UDP disabled (-U 0) - closes the well-known Memcached DDoS amplification vector
- Memory cap sized to the instance automatically at first boot
- UFW firewall - SSH on 22 only; port 11211 governed by your Security Group
- fail2ban, AppArmor
- CVE scan - every image is scanned for vulnerabilities before release
OS hardening (CIS Level 1):
- CIS Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Level 1 benchmark applied via ansible-lockdown
- auditd, SSH hardening, Kernel hardening, IMDSv2 enforced
Compliance artifacts:
- SBOM - CycloneDX 1.6 at /etc/lynxroute/sbom.json
- CIS Conformance Report at /etc/lynxroute/cis-report.html
- CIS Tailored Profile at /usr/share/doc/lynxroute/CIS_TAILORED_PROFILE.md
Highlights
- Memcached security baked in: SASL authentication required, bound to the private interface only, and UDP disabled - unlike bare Memcached AMIs that bind to 0.0.0.0 with no auth and leave UDP open as a DDoS amplification vector.
- CIS Level 1 hardened Ubuntu 24.04 LTS: auditd, fail2ban, AppArmor, SSH key-only, IMDSv2 enforced. CVE-scanned before every release. SBOM (CycloneDX) and CIS Conformance Report included.
- Drop-in caching layer for web apps and databases: works with every standard Memcached client across PHP, Python, Java, Node.js, Go and more. BSD-3-Clause license - fully auditable, no vendor lock-in.
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Pricing
Free trial
Dimension | Cost/hour |
|---|---|
t3.medium Recommended | $0.02 |
t3.large | $0.03 |
t3.small | $0.02 |
m6i.xlarge | $0.05 |
m6i.large | $0.03 |
Vendor refund policy
We do not offer refunds for this product. AWS infrastructure charges are billed separately by AWS and are not refundable by us.
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Delivery details
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
An AMI is a virtual image that provides the information required to launch an instance. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances are virtual servers on which you can run your applications and workloads, offering varying combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking resources. You can launch as many instances from as many different AMIs as you need.
Version release notes
Memcached 1.6.42 - Initial release (June 2026)
- Memcached 1.6.42 on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
- CIS Level 1 hardening applied (ansible-lockdown/UBUNTU24-CIS)
- CVE-scanned before every release
- SASL authentication required - unique credential generated at first boot
- Bound to the private interface and loopback only - never 0.0.0.0
- UDP disabled (-U 0) - closes the DDoS amplification vector
- Memory cap sized to the instance automatically
- UFW firewall pre-configured (SSH on 22; 11211 governed by your Security Group)
- fail2ban, auditd, AppArmor pre-configured
- SBOM (CycloneDX 1.6) at /etc/lynxroute/sbom.json
- CIS Conformance Report (OpenSCAP) at /etc/lynxroute/cis-report.html
- IMDSv2 enforced
Additional details
Usage instructions
- Launch instance (t3.medium recommended)
- SSH: ssh -i key.pem ubuntu@<PUBLIC_IP>
- Read credentials: sudo cat /root/memcached-credentials.txt
- Open port 11211 in the Security Group ONLY to your trusted app-tier sources (never 0.0.0.0/0)
- Connect from an app server in the same VPC using a SASL-capable client on the private IP and port 11211
Memcached is a VPC-internal cache: it is bound to the private interface only, requires SASL authentication, and has UDP disabled. It is never exposed to the public internet.
Example (Python, python-binary-memcached): import bmemcached c = bmemcached.Client(("<PRIVATE_IP>:11211",), "<username>", "<password>") c.set("key", "value"); print(c.get("key"))
The SASL username and password are saved to /root/memcached-credentials.txt at first boot. The cache is in-memory only - it is empty after a reboot by design.
Resources
Vendor resources
Support
Vendor support
Lynxroute is not affiliated with the Memcached project. This AMI packages the BSD-3-Clause open-source Memcached distribution as a self-hosted EC2 service (distinct from Amazon ElastiCache for Memcached, which is a managed offering).
Visit us online: https://lynxroute.com
For Memcached documentation: https://docs.memcached.org/ For Memcached upstream issues:
AWS infrastructure support
AWS Support is a one-on-one, fast-response support channel that is staffed 24x7x365 with experienced and technical support engineers. The service helps customers of all sizes and technical abilities to successfully utilize the products and features provided by Amazon Web Services.
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