VMware vFabric SQLFire
Fast, Scalable SQL Data in The Cloud
VMware vFabric SQLFire
VMware SQLFire is currently in pre-release beta. When final, it will be made available as part of VMware vFabric Advanced with per VM licensing. VMware vFabric SQLFire will also be available on a standalone basis.
Overview
New VMware SQLFire replaces or augments disk-oriented database architectures with data structures and indexes optimized for fast main memory, with options for write-through or writebehind to disk. Built on the proven vFabric GemFire distributed data management platform, SQLFire is ideal for primary data stores that require high transaction rates, continuous availability, and support by database programming staff without specialized coding assistance. Deployed as the front-end data-management layer for an Oracle® or other RDBMS, SQLFire delivers substantially better performance and scalability for modest investments, and retains full compatibility with current DBA skills and tools.
VMware SQL Fire Highlights
- Low latency: Memory-based data management maintains consistently high application performance by eliminating lookup, read/write, and network round-trip latencies.
- Extreme write performance: Memory-speed write performance is ideal for large-scale databases with high transaction volumes and demanding Service Level Agreements.
- Simplified scale-out and scale-back: Repartitions, replicates, and balances data across independent nodes to accommodate shifting loads or new resources.
- Standard SQL interface: Integrates fast, memory-based data management into applications using current database administration skills and tools.
- Flexible HA and DR options: Ensures continuous availability within or across data centers, with partial or full, synchronous or asynchronous writes to disk to meet disaster recovery or regulatory requirements.
VMware SQL Fire
SQLFire enables dynamic horizontal scaling by creating a shared pool of memory across multiple standalone physical devices or x86 rack/blade hardware, and then growing or the shrinking the pool as demand changes.
Replicated or partitioned tables can be managed in memory alone, or in memory and on disk. Application logic can be routed to the data location, for increased performance from parallel execution.
Used as either the primary data store or a front-end datamanagement layer for one or more existing databases, SQLFire assures continuous availability for data within and across data centers. Any table can be configured to be replicated or partitioned into one or more redundant copies.
Built on a foundation of vFabric GemFire, SQLFire benefits from years of testing and reliability of its distribution sub-system, and adds a more sophisticated SQL query engine that compiles a query plan into byte codes, and a much more sophisticated costbased optimizer. Anyone with relational database experience will find the SQLFire configuration and deployment model simple and intuitive to use and adapt. Unlike many popular data grids, SQLFire offers native persistence and recovery capabilities, and can be used as a distributed data store.
Its use of established standards such as SQL, JDBC and ADO.NET makes SQLFire straightforward to adopt in existing applications that use relational databases. Configuration and deployment is much simpler, and the product works effectively with a large eco-system of compatible products and frameworks, including object relational mapping tools (Hibernate, NHibernate, etc), schema-editing and database management tools (SquirrelSQL), database replication and change data capture products, Spring JDBC, and many more.
Applications using the standard SQL syntax supported by SQLFire can easily migrate to and from other relational databases, for flexibility and future-proofing as well as unparalleled performance.
Documentation:
Download the VMware vFabric SQL Fire Datasheet (PDF).