Alternative to the TimesTen in memory database

Question

I just found "Has anyone published a detailed comparison between different in-memory RDBMSs?" that is related to my question.

TimesTen (see also) is a In-Memory Database from oracle.

It has a lot going for it including.

• Fast, consistent response time
• High transaction throughput
• Standard SQL, no application rewrite
• Persistent and recoverable
• High availability and no data loss

However it is priced out of the reach of most people ($41,500.00 / Processor).

So what alternatives are there, and what are there pros and cons.

(I am using .NET if it changes your answer)

Answer 1

Generally, in this field people also look at kdb from Kx Systems. I think both these systems really had they hay-day in the early 2000's. I would see if a tuned MySQL with a solid state RAID array would give you the performance you need.

BTW, I once wrote a time series database which outperformed both TimesTen and Kdb. It supported a SQL-92 syntax. The key to the performance was binding the schema to C++ template based classes, and using memory mapped files. Allowing for on-the-run schema changes is quite expensive, and defining the schema at compile time, data lookups could be retrieved in just a few assembly instructions.

Answer 2

A popular in-memory database system is McObject's eXtremeDB, see

http://www.mcobject.com/extremedbfamily.shtml

There is also a good white paper, offered for download from the home page of McObject's Web site, called, "In-Memory Database Systems: Myths and Facts". It clarifies some questions that arise when discussing the technology, such as, "how is an IMDS different from a 'traditional' database running on a RAM disk?"

Answer 3

An alternative may be solidDB, a comparison between the two may be found here: TimesTen and solidDB comparison