The next major release of Couchbase’s NoSQL database software will feature three key updates: “multi-dimensional scaling,” SQL for Documents and a new storage engine that can execute multiple reads and writes at the same time. According to the Mountain View, California-based company, Couchbase Server 4.0 will deliver the combined strengths of a relational database and a NoSQL database.
Set to ship this summer, Couchbase Server 4.0 will enable users to separate, isolate and scale individual database services such as queries, indexes and data. By specifying how resources are to be allocated based on the service needed, users will be able to optimize hardware workloads for better performance.
The addition of SQL for Documents will make it easier for developers to transition to a NoSQL database using their knowledge of SQL and data modeling, Couchbase said. With SQL for Documents, users can query Couchbase Server 4.0 with a variety of tools, including standard database drivers, APIs or enterprise business intelligence and reporting applications.
No ‘One-Size-Fits-All’ Approach
Multi-dimensional scaling “re imagines and redefines” how enterprises can scale a distributed database, said Senior Product Marketing Manager Shane Johnson.
“Multi-Dimensional Scaling enables us to eliminate resource contention by running different services on different nodes,” Johnson wrote Monday in a blog post. “When queries are executed on separate nodes, there’s no CPU contention between queries and reads or writes. When indexes are stored on separate nodes, there’s no disk IO contention between indexes and reads or writes.”
That helps to improve application performance and reduce cost, according to Couchbase.
“Unlike MongoDB, Oracle, Cassandra, and other databases that have a limiting ‘one size fits all’ approach to scaling, Couchbase is enabling organizations to precisely provision hardware to meet application performance requirements,” said CEO Bob Wiederhold. “With Multi-Dimensional Scaling, enterprises can independently assign and scale the index, query and data services to specific servers. This improves performance, reduces hardware costs, and enables enterprises to support a much broader set of applications with a single database.”
Support for Big Data, Cloud, Internet of Things
With SQL for Documents, Couchbase Server 4.0 will allow users to “create a data model with enough structure to support complex queries without losing the flexibility of JSON documents,” Couchbase said. This eliminates the need for multiple queries to combine related data.
Compared with the familiar SQL database, NoSQL offers greater flexibility for supporting different kinds of data, especially unstructured and semi-structured data. The volumes of such data have been growing rapidly with the development of big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things.
While NoSQL databases such as Couchbase can better support such applications, they can quickly experience performance issues when operations are scaled up across multiple nodes. Multi-dimensional scaling eliminates that concern by providing support for multiple hardware profiles that can run different services on different nodes.
Also coming with the next release of Couchbase Server will be ForestDB, a storage engine designed for use with multi-core processors and solid-state drives. According to Couchbase, ForestDB will provide users with “a single storage engine for read-intensive, write-intensive and mixed workloads.”
Couchbase added that it will be releasing a developer preview for Couchbase Server 4.0 “soon.”
