In this guide, we will walk through session management in a Next.js app using Upstash Redis by learning what a “session” means in a web application, why Redis is a go-to choice for session management, how to set up an Upstash Redis database, and finally, how to integrate it into a Next.js application.

What is “Session”?

In a web application, “session” is a temporary, server-side storage mechanism used to maintain the state of a user's interaction with the application across multiple HTTP requests in a certain time interval.

Since HTTP is a stateless protocol, meaning each request is independent and doesn't "remember" previous interactions, sessions allow the server to track and store user-specific data such as authentication status, preferences, or any kind of activities of the user during their time on the website.

Sessions typically work by storing a unique session ID on the client side, usually in a cookie. The server uses this ID to retrieve data related to the user session from a session storage, like Redis in this blog, every time the user interacts with the site.

Session in a web application is a great way to handle the following user interactions and state management:

User Authentication: Sessions help authenticate users and remember their logged-in state across pages or even after refreshing.
Personalization: Sessions allow the server to store and retrieve data such as user preferences, authentication status, etc.
Security: Proper session management can enhance app security, such as protecting against CSRF and ensuring unauthorized users don’t access restricted areas.

Why Redis for Session Management?

Why not :)

There are multiple reasons for using Redis as a session store for session management. Here are some advantages arising from Redis' structure:

Data Architecture: Redis is an in-memory key-value store. The key-value pairs can be stored in hashes, where a hash is a record type structured as a collection of field-value pairs. This structure perfectly fits to the session management data type to maintain all the session data, such as username, user preference etc. in a key-value format in a hash per user session.
Data Expiry: Redis has a built-in functionality to delete expired data. This helps web applications to keep user sessions time-bound.
Low Latency: Due to its “in-memory” nature, Redis is extremely fast. That’s why it is commonly used for user sessions and cache data.
Scalability: Redis is built to handle large volumes of data and high-throughput traffic.

Also, we can simply compare Redis with one of the most common ways of storing user session data, client-side cookies, to decide which way we want to follow in our web applications. Some advantages of Redis as a session storage over client-side cookies:

Less vulnerable to user tampering: Cookies are visible to the users and are manipulatable by the user. Redis allows us to protect user data from being manipulated by users.
Less data transferred between client and server: Since we store all session information in the Redis, we don’t need to store anything in the client machine.
Storing only “SessionId” in client machine: If we use Redis, we only need sessionId to get for each request to know in which session this request is.

Creating Upstash Redis Database

Before jumping into the Upstash Redis setup, we should first understand the advantages of the Upstash Redis. It wouldn't make any sense to use the tools we're going to use without understanding why they should be used, right?

Let’s see the main benefits of using Upstash Redis:

Serverless: Upstash Redis is a serverless database. You don’t need to maintain the infrastructure, worry about the scaling of the database or any other low-level configuration. You just create the database and use it.
Global Data Distribution: Upstash allows you to deploy your Redis instance in regions close to your users, reducing latency even further. This is particularly beneficial for globally distributed applications, ensuring that session storage is fast and responsive regardless of the user's location.
Pay as you Go: There is no entrance price. You pay only for what you use. You can see the pricing details.

Ok, if we have no more questions about why we use Upstash Redis for session management, we can create the Upstash Redis database.

We will create a Redis database through Upstash console.

Let’s create a Redis database by clicking the “Create Database” button. This tutorial will show once again how easy and fast it is to create an Upstash Redis database.

In the modal that appears, we will select a name for our database and select a region for it. It could be better to select the same region with your service.

After clicking on next button, we will select the pricing plan. Pay as you go with max budget limit is my favourite!

Now, our Redis database is ready. We can see the database endpoint, the password to connect to the database and its port on the Redis dashboard. We will need this information when we want to connect to the database from the web application.

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