McObject Releases Test Results for IMDS
McObject today released lab results showcasing the higher speed and data durability attained deploying McObject eXtremeDB In-Memory Database System (IMDS) with EMC XtremSF server-based PCIe flash cards for transaction log storage. The McObject benchmark tests demonstrate the speed advantage of eXtremeDB with transaction logging and EMC XtremSF increasing along with the number of concurrent processes, delivering scalability, high throughput and the ability to leverage up-to-date multi-processor/multi-core hardware.
In-memory database systems (IMDSs) eliminate the latency associated with traditional on-disk DBMSs, but some applications require a higher level of data durability (i.e. recoverability if volatile memory is disrupted). As a solution, IMDSs offer transaction logging. But critics object that logging re-introduces the storage-related latency that builds slowness into on-disk DBMSs. McObject’s benchmark tests – described in a free report, Gaining an Extreme Performance Advantage – refute this criticism. For the database operations most likely to induce latency, the IMDS with transaction logging (IMDS+TL) storing its transaction log on a hard disk drive (HDD) outperformed the conventional DBMS using HDD storage by more than 5 times (even with the disk-based DBMS employing caching to minimize I/O). In addition, dramatic gains were achieved when using EMC XtremSF server-based PCIe flash cards to store the transaction log. The technology enabled the IMDS+TL to achieve a 2,100% speed advantage over the on-disk DBMS.
A second phase of the benchmark tested scalability by measuring throughput while adding concurrent processes to interact with the database system and its storage. EMC and McObject point to their technologies’ ability to exploit today’s multi-core CPUs as important product strengths. McObject’s tests using a traditional on-disk DBMS with EMC XtremSF technology demonstrate its capabilities in this area: with 2 processes running simultaneously, the benchmark application was able to complete 3.89 loops per millisecond; with 36 concurrent processes, this grew to 12.21 loops/ms – an increase of 314%.
When switching to the eXtremeDB IMDS with transaction logging, and using EMC XtremSF technology to store the transaction log, the rate of throughput increase was even more impressive – for a gain of 505%.
“McObject’s benchmark tests with eXtremeDB and EMC XtremSF server-based PCIe flash cards show that an in-memory database system that gains recoverability via transaction logging can maintain its dramatic speed advantage over traditional on-disk DBMSs,” McObject CEO Steve Graves said. “The tests examining concurrent processing demonstrate that the strengths of an IMDS with transaction logging play into those of server-based PCIe flash storage, resulting in a durable, high-throughput data management solution that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
“The macro trends of mobile, social, cloud and big data are forming what is known as the third platform of IT. The emergence of in-memory database architectures, like McObject's eXtremeDB, is in response to the high-frequency, low-latency demands of next generation applications for the third platform. Flash technologies, like PCIe flash, are engineered to uniquely meet these demands—and McObject's testing results demonstrate this. This is another example of EMC's commitment to helping our customers bridge second platform enterprise-class data durability with third platform performance and scale,” said Ken Taylor, Director, EMC Emerging Technologies Product Division.
