FoundationDB

lastmod 2025-02-02created 2024-12-114 edits

One of 7 databases for 2025

See Database#7 databases for 2025 (GeekNews)
FoundationDB is a unique system that acts as "the foundation of databases"
- Designed as a key-value store, but works less as a simple database and more as a "foundation" for building databases
- Used by major companies such as Apple, Snowflake, and Tigris Data
Key features and limitations
- Limitations:
  - Transaction data cannot exceed 10MB
  - A transaction cannot last more than 5 seconds after the first read
- Thanks to these limits, it can support fully ACID transactions even at large scale
  - Example: cases of operating clusters of 100TiB or more
Design and testing of FoundationDB
- Designed and optimized for specific workloads
- Stability and scalability proven through simulation testing:
  - The same testing methodology is used by Antithesis and other databases
  - Related references: writings by Tyler Neely and Phil Eaton
FoundationDB as a "layered" database
- Loose coupling between the storage engine and the data model:
  - The storage engine can be remapped in various layers
  - Examples: Record layer, Document layer (provided by the FoundationDB organization)
- The layer design case written by Tigris Data is worth a look
Recommendations for learning FoundationDB
- Work through the tutorial and explore whether it could replace systems like RocksDB
- Read the Design Recipes and related papers
- Understand usage limits and solvable problems through the Anti-Features and Features documents