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By default, **Redis stores data in RAM**,
and for **long-term persistence** it uses **files on disk**, but only as a *backup copy* of what's in memory.

### 1. The primary store is RAM

Every key, value, and data structure lives **in the Redis process's memory**.
That's exactly why Redis runs so fast:
accessing RAM is instant, with no disk access needed.

### 2. Backup persistence

Redis can save the contents of memory to disk in two ways:

**(a) RDB (Redis Database File)**
- creates *snapshots* of the data at set intervals;
- the default file:

```javascript
dump.rdb
```

- the default path:

```javascript
/var/lib/redis/
```

or (on Windows):

```javascript
C:\Program Files\Redis\
```

**(b) AOF (Append Only File)**
- logs *every data-changing operation*;
- the default file:

```javascript
appendonly.aof
```

### 3. Settings in the config file (`redis.conf`):

```javascript
dir /var/lib/redis/     # the directory where files are stored
dbfilename dump.rdb     # the snapshot file's name
appendonly yes          # enable the AOF log (optional)
```

**Summary:**

- Redis keeps its active data **in RAM**.
- By default, it periodically **snapshots memory into a file**, `dump.rdb`, inside `/var/lib/redis/`.
- On restart, Redis restores data from that file back into memory.

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