Leveraging the power of the unbundled database

Since the mid-1980s, relational databases have been standard for most applications to store and query structured data. As architectures became more complex, databases generalized to fit a variety of use cases. Simplicity was key: storage, indexing, caching, querying, and transaction management, all under a unified SQL. Alex Silva examines how relational databases overcome these challenges.

Since the mid-1980s, relational databases have been standard for most applications needing to store and query structured data. As architectures became more complex, databases have generalized to fit a variety of use cases. Simplicity was key: databases encapsulate storage, indexing, caching, querying, and transaction management, all under a unified SQL view. Alex Silva examines what could happen if you could “unbundle” the database into its separate constituents and distribute these concerns into different layers and be able to optimize them individually. He proposes a stream processing architecture that can be used to successfully “deconstruct” the database while analyzing the challenges and pitfalls. You’ll approach subscription and replication protocols under a different light by exploring how relational databases have overcome these challenges and focusing on what works and what doesn’t while discussing the paradigm shift proposed by stream processing and the architectural differences between the two approaches.