In this episode, we dive into FoundationDB. It is an open-source, distributed, transactional key-value store that combines the scalability of NoSQL with the strong consistency of ACID transactions. It was created over a decade ago and is used by companies like Apple and Snowflake as the underpinning of their cloud infrastructure.

Key features of FoundationDB include:

• Unbundled architecture


• Strict serializability


• Deterministic simulation


• Minimal feature set

Unlike traditional databases that bundle storage, data models, and query languages, FoundationDB takes a modular approach, providing a highly scalable, transactional storage engine with a minimal set of features. This allows application developers flexibility, with the ability to relax strict serializability when it's not needed.

Reference:

The paper "FoundationDB: A Distributed Unbundled Transactional Key Value Store" details the design and implementation of FoundationDB. This paper was published at the 2021 International Conference on Management of Data (SIGMOD '21). The authors include Jingyu Zhou, Meng Xu, Alexander Shraer, Bala Namasivayam, Alex Miller, Evan Tschannen, Steve Atherton, Andrew J. Beamon, Rusty Sears, John Leach, Dave Rosenthal, Xin Dong, Will Wilson, Ben Collins, David Scherer, Alec Grieser, Young Liu, Alvin Moore, Bhaskar Muppana, Xiaoge Su, and Vishesh Yadav.

Disclaimer:

Please note that parts or all this episode was generated by AI. While the content is intended to be accurate and informative, it is recommended that you consult the original research papers for a comprehensive understanding.