diff --git a/README.rdoc b/README.rdoc
index 7f27e59..9fbba50 100644
--- a/README.rdoc
+++ b/README.rdoc
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ Examples of usage:
 
 {Horaci Cuevas}[http://github.com/horaci] <horaci@gmail.com>
 
+{Robert R. Meyer}[http://github.com/Blue-Dog-Archolite] <Blue.Dog.Archolite@gmail.com>
+
 == Quick overview
 
 * Setup
@@ -23,7 +25,10 @@ Before using Similus, you need to setup the redis configuration. In rails this c
 
   Similus.config do |config|
     config.backend = :redis
-    config.redis_server = "localhost:6379"
+    config.redis_host = "localhost"
+    config.redis_port = "6379"
+    config.redis_username = "myredisuser"
+    config.redis_password = "Password"
     config.redis_db = 8
   end
 
@@ -73,4 +78,4 @@ Install the Similus gem:
 
 Copyright (c) 2010 Horaci Cuevas
 
-See LICENSES for details.
\ No newline at end of file
+See LICENSES for details.
diff --git a/lib/similus/config.rb b/lib/similus/config.rb
index 0be9361..7518210 100644
--- a/lib/similus/config.rb
+++ b/lib/similus/config.rb
@@ -3,16 +3,20 @@ def self.config
     @config ||= Config.new
     block_given? ? yield(@config) : @config
   end
-  
+
   class Config
     attr_accessor :backend
-    attr_accessor :redis_server
+    attr_accessor :redis_host
+    attr_accessor :redis_port
+    attr_accessor :redis_username
+    attr_accessor :redis_password
     attr_accessor :redis_db
     attr_accessor :logfile
 
     def initialize #:nodoc:
       self.backend      = :redis
-      self.redis_server = "localhost:6379"
+      self.redis_host   = "localhost"
+      self.redis_port   = "6379"
       self.redis_db     = 9
       self.logfile      = STDOUT
     end
diff --git a/lib/similus/redis.rb b/lib/similus/redis.rb
index 7fdf5c9..796cda4 100644
--- a/lib/similus/redis.rb
+++ b/lib/similus/redis.rb
@@ -1,14 +1,15 @@
 module Similus
   def self.redis
     @redis ||= begin
-      host, port = config.redis_server.split(':')
-      ::Redis.new(:host => host, :port => port, :db => config.redis_db)
+      ::Redis.new(:host => config.redis_host, :port => config.redis_port,
+                         :username => config.redis_username, :password => config.redis_password,
+                         :thread_safe => true)
     rescue Exception => e
       config.logger.error "Error connecting redis server: #{e.message}"
       nil
     end
   end
-  
+
   def self.clear_database!
     @cache = {}
     redis.flushdb