MemSQL updates in-memory databasewith geospatial support, free

Community EditionAnalyst: Matt Aslett 20 May, 2015

In-memory database specialist MemSQL has launched version 4.0 of its eponymous database,positioned for combined operational and analytic workloads. Version 4.0 introduces geospatialsupport and a new free Community Edition, as well as a new optimizer supporting distributed joins.

The 451 Take

MemSQL continues to make steady progress in terms of both the adoption and functionalityof its in-memory database. Making MemSQL Community Edition freely available will betterenable would-be customers to put the database through its paces and explore potential usecases, which could be critical to drive further adoption given that MemSQL is at the forefrontof the push toward combined operational and analytic processing. Support for geospatial datatypes is also important and should help the company build on growing interest driven byexploration of the Internet of Things.

Context

MemSQL has been evolving at a rapid rate since it emerged from stealth in 2012. The company hasnow launched version 4.0 of its in-memory database, which was initially positioned for operationalworkloads thanks to its in-memory execution engine designed to convert SQL statements intonative C++ instructions. MemSQL expanded its scope in 2012 to address real-time analytics and in2014 to incorporate analysis of historical data. Version 4.0 adds support for geospatial workloads,an optimizer supporting distributed joins and a free Community Edition.

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The company says that it had always intended to make the core functionality of MemSQL availablefree of charge, and it has done that with MemSQL Community Edition, which has no limitations interms of capacity and is described as production-ready. For commercial support, a user would needto upgrade to the Enterprise Edition, however, which adds a number of features to supportmission-critical deployments, such as high availability, cluster replication, multiple SQL accountsand advanced security.

Version 4 also includes enhancements to MemSQL's core functionality, not least a new optimizersupporting distributed joins. Also arriving, with much fanfare, is support for geospatial data types,which was previewed in March and has already been put through its paces by geographicinformation systems specialist Esri, which used MemSQL's support for geospatial data types andApache Spark to analyze data from 170 million New York City taxi rides, including GPS pickup anddrop-off coordinates, as well as distance and travel times.

MemSQL added a multi-threaded Spark connector in February to enable users to take advantage ofthe open source in-memory distributed analytics engine alongside MemSQL's in-memoryoperational database and flash- or disk-based historical data store. The company also offersMemSQL Loader for high-performance data loading from Apache Hadoop and Amazon WebServices' S3. Additionally, the company is exploring integration with distributed infrastructureofferings such as Mesos and CoreOS. The company runs MemSQL on CoreOS internally as part of itsPsyduck testing system, which runs more than 60,000 containers per day across 107 physicalservers.

MemSQL was founded in 2011 by two former Facebook employees: CEO Eric Frenkiel previouslyworked on partnership development at Facebook, while CTO Nikita Shamgunov served as asoftware engineer. The company now has 60 employees, compared with 40 in February 2014, andit cited more than 40 paying customers as of February 2015. The company was initially successfulwith online enterprises (reference customers include Zynga, Shutterstock, Comcast and CertiVox)but claims to be seeing a groundswell of interest across industries driven by emerging plans for theInternet of Things.

MemSQL added In-Q-Tel as a strategic investor in September 2014 and now claims $50m in funding.Previous to that, it raised $35m in January 2014 from Accel Partners, Khosla Ventures, DataCollective and First Round Capital, which brought the total funding raised to $45m at that point.

Competition

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The primary competition for MemSQL, and indeed all emerging database vendors, is the reliance onestablished incumbent database providers such as Oracle, IBM and Microsoft (for general-purposeworkloads), as well as Teradata for analytics. There is also the assumption that it is necessary todeploy separate databases for analytic and transactional workloads, and skepticism that it ispossible to run both on the same database while maintaining high performance for each.

MemSQL is by no means alone in positioning for combined operational and analytic processingworkloads, however. SAP has been pushing this approach heavily with its HANA database, whichmust also be considered a prime competitor to MemSQL thanks to being in-memory. Likewise,VoltDB is both in-memory and positioned for real-time operational and analytic workloads. The likesof Deep Information Sciences, NuoDB and JustOne Database are also targeting combinedoperational and analytic processing, as are NoSQL providers such as DataStax, and all takeadvantage of in-memory processing to some degree.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths WeaknessesMemSQL is differentiated thanks to its translation of SQLqueries into native C++ instructions, and is at theforefront of the push toward combined operational andanalytic processing.

The company's plans and claims are ambitious.Reference customers continue to be key toconvincing potential adopters that it can deliver.

Opportunities ThreatsMaking MemSQL Community Edition freely available willbetter enable would-be customers to put the databasethrough its paces and explore potential use cases.

The incumbent relational database giants aremaking memory-centric moves of their own, andwill look to crowd out emerging specialists.

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Reproduced by permission of The 451 Group; © 2015. This report was originally published within 451Research's Market Insight Service. For additional information on 451 Research or to apply for trial access, goto: www.451research.com

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