Hazelcast In-Memory Data Grid

This is a repackaged open source software product wherein additional charges apply for cloudimg support services.

## An In-Memory Data Grid, Ready on First Boot

Hazelcast is a distributed in-memory data grid and compute platform. It keeps data in RAM for memory-speed reads and writes, exposes distributed maps and other data structures, runs ANSI SQL over that in-memory data, and performs distributed compute - so applications get low-latency caching and fast data access without a disk round trip. This image delivers Hazelcast fully installed on OpenJDK 17 with a dedicated service account, a systemd unit, and a hardened member configuration, so you can run your first SQL query against an in-memory map within minutes of launch rather than spending hours on a manual install.

## Who This Is For

Platform and application teams who need a self-hosted caching and data-grid layer inside their own VPC to accelerate an application, without operating a clustered install by hand. Developers who need a real, standards-compliant Hazelcast member to build and test distributed maps, SQL, and compute against, instead of mocking one. Data and integration teams who want an in-memory SQL surface over fast-changing data.

## What Is Installed

• Hazelcast 5.7.0, the official open source slim distribution (the cleanly Apache-2.0-licensed core: the member, the SQL engine, and the hz and hz-cli command line tools)
• OpenJDK 17 (headless) as the runtime
• A dedicated unprivileged hazelcast service account and a systemd unit that starts the member on boot
• A first-boot service that rotates the cluster join secret and writes the credentials file before the member starts

## Secure By Default - No Shared Credentials

Hazelcast community edition has no password or TLS authentication realm - those are Enterprise features. Unlike the upstream default which ships with the shared cluster name "dev" and no access control, this image uses the cluster name as a per-instance join secret and never ships a shared one:

• The member binds to the loopback interface only. Port 5701 is on 127.0.0.1 and is never opened in the security group; only port 22 is
• On every first boot a unique random cluster name is generated and written into the member configuration before the member starts
• A client must present the exact cluster name to connect; a client with any other cluster name, including the upstream default "dev", is rejected at connect time
• The join secret is written to a root-only file at /root/hazelcast-credentials.txt
• Automated checks assert both directions against the published image: the generated name is accepted and the default "dev" name is rejected

## Network Model

The member listener on port 5701 is bound to the loopback interface only and is not exposed to the network. This is a deliberate default: an in-memory grid with no built-in authentication should never be reachable from the internet. Reach the member from your workstation with an SSH tunnel, or rebind it to a private interface behind your own security group when you are ready. The included user guide covers both approaches with step-by-step instructions. Because community edition is purely in-memory, persistence is not enabled and a fresh boot always starts an empty grid.

## Getting Started

1. Launch the image on an m5.large instance or larger, with port 22 open to your management network

2. Connect over SSH as the default login user for your variant (listed in the user guide)

3. Retrieve the generated cluster join secret with sudo cat /root/hazelcast-credentials.txt

4. Open a local SQL session with hz-cli using that cluster name and create an in-memory map

5. Insert and select a row to confirm the grid is answering

6. Open an SSH tunnel to reach the member from a Hazelcast client on your workstation

7. Point your application's Hazelcast client at the tunnel, using the cluster name as the join secret

## 24/7 cloudimg Support

Every deployment is backed by cloudimg engineers available around the clock by email and live chat. Support covers deployment and sizing guidance, member and JVM heap tuning, cluster-name and join configuration, rebinding the member to a private interface, SSH tunnel and client connectivity, SQL and distributed-map usage, and Hazelcast upgrades and troubleshooting. Critical issues receive a one-hour average response time.

## Evaluation

This image uses standard AWS pay-as-you-go infrastructure billing. Launch an instance to evaluate Hazelcast against your own data and application, and terminate at any time.

Hazelcast is a trademark of Hazelcast, Inc. All product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.