January 7, 2013 — McObject’s white paper, “Seeking Fast, Durable Data Management: A Database System and Persistent Storage Benchmark”, explores solutions for database durability and recoverability, using McObject’s original test results to shine light on the best approach when performance is critical and data loss is not an option. In-memory database systems (IMDSs) eliminate I/O latency associated with traditional on-disk database management systems (DBMSs), but some applications require a higher level of data durability (i.e. an ability to recover if someone “pulls the plug” or otherwise disrupts volatile memory). As a solution, IMDSs offer transaction logging, in which changes to the database are recorded on persistent media.
But critics object that logging re-introduces the storage-related latency that builds slowness into on-disk DBMSs. Will an IMDS with transaction logging outperform a traditional DBMS? Will type of storage – hard disk drive vs. solid state drive vs. state-of-the-art memory-tier products – affect the results? McObject’s report answers these questions with tests using its own eXtremeDB IMDS and on-disk DBMS technology, along with commercially available hardware including Fusion ioDrive2 NAND flash memory from Fusion-io.
It also examines the impact of transaction length (long vs. short) on database system performance and the interplay of storage device type with this effect. Download “Seeking Fast, Durable Data Management: A Database System and Persistent Storage Benchmark.”
