Bilbostack Conference
This weekend, I had the honor of speaking about In-Memory Databases at BilboStack in Bilbao, Spain. It was a special moment for me because Bilbao is my hometown, where I completed my Software Engineering studies 20 years ago. Public speaking is always a challenge, but presenting in my hometown came with the added pressure of not wanting to disappoint.
BilboStack is a 1000-attendees tech event featuring two tracks with four talks each in the morning, followed by networking sessions in the afternoon. This year marked its 13th edition. Here is a short video of the conference.
What did I talk about?
I spoke about In-Memory Databases. One of their main use cases is caching and session replication, so I explained the basics of distributed caching.
I covered:
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Embedded caching with a library.
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Embedded distributed caching, which works across multiple systems.
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Using an in-memory database to keep applications stateless while managing caching through the database, making it easy to scale cpu or memory up or down.
I also highlighted use cases such as real-time statistics, fast operations, and implementing security and backups for cross-site deployments (spanning multiple data centers).
The talk was very well received, and I got great feedback. I kept the content general but also showcased how Infinispan, the open-source product I work on, fits these scenarios.
Demo and Slides
Demo and slides are available in this repository: GitHub - Bilbo Stack 2025.
Questions
I got many questions, but we did not have time to answer them during the session. Here are some of them, others will be answered in more detailed blog posts.
Can Infinispan be compared to Redis?
Yes, Infinispan is a competitor to Redis and can even act as a drop-in replacement. This allows you to continue using your existing applications and clients while switching to Infinispan. Tristan Tarrant’s video offers a detailed comparison: Redis vs Infinispan: Battle of the in-memory data stores.
Is "clear the cache" the new "restart your computer"?
It often feels that way! Caches—whether browser-based or tools like Varnish—can trick us into thinking something is broken when it’s not. Clearing the cache is often a quick fix.
Can in-memory databases work with other languages or visualization tools?
Absolutely! In-memory databases support multiple programming languages via clients or APIs. These databases (e.g., Infinispan, Redis, Couchbase) also integrate with popular visualization tools and frameworks.
On Vector Databases
Vector databases are growing in popularity for AI use cases, but in-memory databases like Infinispan have supported similar features for years. For example, Infinispan uses Hibernate Search and Lucene for full-text queries, and from Lucene 7.2, KNN/ANN searches, and vector indexing is supported too. This makes it easy to integrate with tools like LangChain without needing a separate vector database. For more details, see Clement Escoffier’s blog post on the Quarkus blog.
Final words
BilboStack was amazing! The conference, held in Bilbao, is all in Spanish and was very well organized. Everything ran smoothly, and the Basque culture made it extra special. There was great food, traditional dances, live music, and plenty of chances to meet people and connect.
It’s not just a tech event — it’s an experience. The talks aren’t filmed because what happens at BilboStack stays there. You really have to be there to enjoy it fully! A huge thank you to the organizers for treating us, as speakers, so incredibly well. The effort and care they put into making us feel welcome and valued are like nowhere else. It was an honor to be part of such a well-organized and thoughtful event. Thank you for everything!
See you soon Bilbao, and see you next year Bilbostack! Next time, in San Mamés!
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Katia Aresti
Katia Aresti is a Senior Software Engineer working for Red Hat since 2017. She is part of the core Infinispan team, reponsible of the integration with other frameworks such as Spring-Boot, Vert.x or Quarkus, developing new features such as Clustered Counters, REST API endpoints and the new Server Web Console.
