Optimizer geekdom
I’ve been a DBMS analyst since before there were cost-based optimizers or, for that matter, a whole lot of relational DBMS. And in the 20 years that optimizers have been around, I’ve never fully understood why they’re so simple-minded. Even so, I think they’re pretty cool, as per the fanboyish discussion in this 2004 Computerworld column.
So I’m delighted to see that the Oracle folks have started a hardcore blog on optimizer details. If you want to get a sense of how smart a leading DBMS is or isn’t, I encourage you to check it out.
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IBM acquires SolidDB to compete with Oracle TimesTen
IBM is acquiring Solid Information Technology, makers of solidDB. Some quick comments:
- solidDB is actually a very interesting hybrid disk/in-memory memory-centric database management system. However, the press release announcing the deal makes it sound as if solidDB is in-memory only.
- That strongly suggests that IBM is buying Solid mainly to compete with Oracle TimesTen. As of last June, solidDB was already IBM’s TimesTen answer via a partnership; this deal just solidifies that arrangement.
- This probably isn’t good news for Solid’s MySQL engine. That’s a pity, since solidDB technically has the potential to be the best MySQL engine around.
- Notwithstanding IBM’s presumed intentions, Solid’s main market success historically is as an embedded system in telecommunications equipment, network software, and similar systems.
- Last year I wrote a white paper on memory-centric data management, showcasing four products. IBM now has bought two of them, namely Solid’s and Applix’s (via Cognos).
- Comparisons to IBM’s embedded Java DBMS Cloudscape are pointless. That’s just a failed product vs. solidDB or Sybase SQL Anywhere, and IBM long ago cut its losses.
| Categories: Cache, Cognos, IBM and DB2, In-memory DBMS, Memory-centric data management, MySQL, OLTP, Oracle TimesTen, solidDB, Sybase | 5 Comments |
Elastra – somewhat more sensible Amazon-based DBMS option
Elastra is a startup offering MySQL and PostgreSQL SaaS instances in the Amazon S3/EC2 cloud. On their board is John Hummer, which I generally regard as a good thing, although it’s hardly a guarantee of success.* High Scalability raises some doubts about Elastra’s pricing, but I think that may be missing the point. Read more
| Categories: Amazon and its cloud, Cloud computing, Elastra, MySQL, OLTP, Open source, PostgreSQL, Software as a Service (SaaS) | 2 Comments |
Amazon SimpleDB – when less is, supposedly, enough
I’ve posted several times about Amazon as an innovative, super-high-end user — doing transactional object caching with ObjectStore, building an inhouse less-than-DBMS called Dynamo, or just generally adopting a very DBMS2-like approach to data management. Now Amazon is bring the Dynamo idea to the public, via a SaaS offering called SimpleDB. (Hat tip to Tim Anderson.)
SimpleDB is obviously meant to be a data server for online applications. There are no joins, and queries don’t run over 5 seconds, so serious analytics are out of the question. Domains are limited to 10GB for now, so extreme media file serving also isn’t what’s intended; indeed, Amazon encourages one to use SimpleDB to store pointers to larger objects stored as files in Amazon S3.
On the other hand, if you think of SimpleDB as an OLTP DBMS, your head might explode. There’s no sense of transaction, no mechanisms to help with integrity, no way to do arithmetic, and indeed no assurance that writes will be immediately reflected in reads. Read more
| Categories: Amazon and its cloud, Cloud computing, Data models and architecture, NoSQL, OLTP, Software as a Service (SaaS), Theory and architecture | 6 Comments |
Intersystems’ stealth marketing has gotten pretty extreme
Every few months I try to make contact with Intersystems. Sometimes they graciously respond, promising to schedule a briefing, which then never happens. Other times they don’t even bother. Now, on one level I can’t blame them, based on what happened at my last briefing. Read more
| Categories: Intersystems and Cache', Object | 5 Comments |
A cautionary tale
Maybe I was just in an odd mood, but I laughed for a LONG time at this cautionary tale.
Hat tip to Dan Weinreb, who introduced me to xkcd by sending over a link to this funny cartoon, in response to this filksong.
| Categories: Humor | 2 Comments |
A quick survey of data warehouse management technology
There are at least 16 different vendors offering appliances and/or software that do database management primarily for analytic purposes.* That’s a lot to keep up with,. So I’ve thrown together a little overview of the analytic data management landscape, liberally salted with links to information about specific vendors, products, or technical issues. In some ways, this is a companion piece to my prior post about data warehouse appliance myths and realities.
*And that’s just the tabular/alphanumeric guys. Add in text search and you run the total a lot higher.
Numerous data warehouse specialists offer traditional row-based relational DBMS architectures, but optimize them for analytic workloads. These include Teradata, Netezza, DATAllegro, Greenplum, Dataupia, and SAS. All of those except SAS are wholly or primarily vendors of MPP/shared-nothing data warehouse appliances. EDIT: See the comment thread for a correction re Kognitio.
Numerous data warehouse specialists offer column-based relational DBMS architectures. These include Sybase (with the Sybase IQ product, originally from Expressway), Vertica, ParAccel, Infobright, Kognitio (formerly White Cross), and Sand. Read more
Status of Software AG’s Tamino
Since I was researching Software AG anyway, I took the opportunity to ask about Software AG’s native XML DBMS Tamino, which certainly has some fans. Jim Fowler, Software AG’s Director of Market Development, Enterprise Transaction Systems, was kind enough to write up the following for me:
As you know, when Tamino was released in the late 1990s it was one of the first – if not the first – commercially available native XML database. We now have several hundred Tamino customers worldwide, and Software AG is fully committed to supporting our customers.
At the same time, we recognize that XML has matured and evolved in many different directions during the past decade; Read more
| Categories: Data types, Software AG, Structured documents | Leave a Comment |
Software AG – an Adablast from the Adapast
The two oldest major software products companies may well both be German – SAP and Software AG. They’re both a little older than CA (which, directly, or indirectly, has bought most of the other pioneers), Information Builders, or SAS, none of which – if I recall correctly – was founded before 1975-6.
In its current configuration, Software AG is based in Germany, publicly traded, and divided into two divisions:
- ETS (Enterprise Transaction Systems), perhaps better thought of as “Software AG Classic.” This is a 350 million Euros business, solidly profitable and still growing, albeit slowly.
- WebMethods, a SOA/integration division named after the biggest of the acquisitions it’s built from. This is a 100 million Euros business growing Very Fast.
The ETS folks briefed me last week. Highlights follow. I also posted about Software AG’s history over on Software Memories, which may provide some useful detail and context. Read more
| Categories: OLTP, Software AG | 3 Comments |
Netezza rolls out its compression story
The proximate cause for today’s flurry of Netezza-related posts is that the company has finally rolled out its compression story. In a nutshell, Netezza has developed its own version of columnar delta compression, slated to ship May, 2008. It compresses 2-5X, with the factor sometimes going up into double digits. Netezza estimates this produces a 2-3X improvement in overall performance, with the core marketing claim being that performance will “double” from compression alone. Read more