In-memory databases help energy, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, telecom, media, entertainment, gaming, government, and public sector enterprises. They also support business-critical operations for these companies.
Performance is crucial because they require real-time or nearly real-time transaction and analytics processing for a wide range of use cases. However, cost effectiveness is equally crucial in the modern world of accomplishing more with less.
AWS in memory database
For high-memory applications, Amazon EC2 U7i custom virtual instances (8-socket) provide the scalability, high performance, and cost-effectiveness that enterprises want. They also support in-memory databases like SAP HANA, Oracle, and SQL Server.
With 896 vCPUs and up to 32 TiB of DDR5 memory, these 4th Gen Intel Xeon processor and Intel Advanced Matrix Extensions (Intel AMX)-powered 8-socket U7i instances provide the compute and memory density required to extend transaction processing throughput in rapidly expanding data environments.
U7i instances are a great option for the present and the future since the demand for high-memory cloud solutions, including AI models, will only increase as large-scale data models whether developed by internal organizations or external vendors become more prevalent.
Intel AMX, an AI engine built into Intel Xeon Scalable processors, reduces the requirement for specialized hardware while speeding up inferencing and training. This results in exceptional cost savings. These integrated accelerators are located close to system memory in each CPU core. A faster time to value is made possible by the fact that Intel AMX is frequently easier to deploy than discrete accelerators.
Benefits for Businesses
U7i instances give enterprises a quick, easy, and adaptable approach to manage their mission-critical, large-scale workloads. Additional benefits include of:
Extremely Flexible: In data environments that are expanding quickly, organizations can readily scale throughput.
Superb Work: Compared to current U-1 instances, U7i instances have up to 135% greater compute performance and up to 45% better price performance.
Decreased Indirect Costs: With U7i instances, you can operate both business apps that rely on large in-memory databases and databases themselves in the same shared Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), which guarantees predictable performance while lowering the management burden associated with sophisticated networking.
Worldwide Accessibility: U7i instances come with operating system support for Ubuntu, Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and Amazon Linux. They are accessible in the US East (North Virginia), US West (Oregon), and Asia Pacific (Seoul, Sydney) AWS Regions. Regularly, new regions are added.
Quick and Simple to Start: Buying U7i instances is simple, allowing you to start using them right away. In addition to shared dedicated instance and dedicated host tenancy, purchase choices include On-Demand, Savings Plan, and Reserved Instance form.
What is in memory database?
In contrast to conventional databases, which store data on disc, in-memory databases store data mostly in main memory (RAM). Because accessing data in RAM is far faster than accessing data on a disc, this makes in-memory databases substantially faster for data retrieval and modification.
The following are some salient features of in-memory databases:
Benefits of in memory database
Speed: In-memory databases’ main benefit is their speed. Read and write operations are substantially faster when data is stored in RAM as opposed to disk-based storage.
Volatility: Data is lost in the event of a system crash or power outage because RAM is volatile memory. Many in-memory databases offer data permanence features, including transaction logs and recurring disc snapshots, to help reduce this.
Use Cases: Applications that need to handle data quickly, such real-time analytics, caching, and session management, are best suited for in-memory databases.
Example of in memory database
Redis: Popular in-memory data structure storage for real-time analytics, message brokers, and caches.
Memcached: A fast distributed memory object caching solution that minimizes database demand to speed up dynamic web apps.
H2: A memory-efficient, lightweight Java SQL database for development, testing, and small apps.
The cutting-edge relational database management system SAP HANA is for analytics and real-time applications.
Performance: Because RAM is used, data access and processing are incredibly quick.
Scalability: Frequently made to expand horizontally, this feature enables load balancing and distributed computing.
Decreased delay: Perfect for applications that need data access with minimal delay.
Disadvantages of in memory database
Cost: Large-scale in-memory databases are expensive since RAM is more expensive than disc storage.
Data Persistence: Adding more methods and potential complexity is necessary to ensure that data is not lost in the event of a power outage.
Limited Capacity: The RAM that is available determines how much data can be kept.
Persistence Mechanisms
In-memory databases frequently employ a number of strategies to deal with the volatility issue:
- Snapshots: Writing the complete database to disc on a regular basis.
- Append-Only Files, or AOFs, record each modification performed to the database so that the information can be replayed and restored.
- Hybrid storage refers to the combining of disk-based and in-memory storage to provide greater storage capacity and data longevity.
Utilization Examples
Real-time analytics: Quick data processing and analysis, crucial for e-commerce, telecom, and financial services.
Caching: Keeping frequently requested data in memory to lighten the burden on conventional databases.
Session management is the process of storing user session information for online apps so that the user experience is uninterrupted.
Gaming: Keeping up with the rapid updates and data changes that occur in online gaming environments.
In summary
Applications that demand real-time data access and processing can benefit greatly from the unmatched speed and performance that in-memory databases provide. They do, however, have limitations with regard to cost, capacity, and data persistence. These difficulties can be overcome by utilising suitable persistence methods and hybrid storage options, which makes in-memory databases an effective tool for a range of high-performance applications.
