Ancelus

Ancelus is a high performance, high reliability database designed to support specific application problems not addressed by conventional relational database technology or by existing in-memory database systems. Ancelus offers record-setting industry performance, reduced application development time, and simplified operational administration. In addition to the traditional database capabilities, Ancelus offers support for applications that require:

• Ultra high performance, reliability and scalability in large, complex data sets up to 32 terabytes (expandable to 8 exabytes or 8,000,000 terabytes).
• Continuous operation including dynamic database administration without downtime
• Native support for threaded, sequential and time based data sets

Key Features

These Ancelus critical features support the target applications:

• Exceptional speed, reliability and scalability
• Online 64-bit Dynamic Memory Management
• Online Continuous Incremental Backup
• Multi-level Lock Domains
• Non-blocking Column Updates
• Ultra high performance administration, with typical database lock time under 10 microseconds for execution

Target Applications

Ancelus takes full advantage of available hardware technology and broadens the range of potential applications for in-memory databases. It is the first database designed and fully optimized for continuous use in hardware memory.

The small runtime footprint (about 20kb) makes it ideal for mobile, distributed and embedded applications. Its use in large administrative applications reduces processing time dramatically by eliminating the join and merge functions of traditional systems.

Target applications and markets include:

• Telecom switching systems
• Telecom and other large billing applications
• Cell phone infrastructure support functions
• Remote and mobile database applications using cell phones
• Air traffic control flight management systems
• Scientific research
• Embedded applications in intelligent devices

Ancelus is ideal for any application design that includes complex transaction processing, very large data arrays, very high performance demands, high availability, high reliability, or continuous operations. It is particularly well suited for sequentially related or time based data management applications.

Current users of similar technologies have developed work-arounds for the limitations of these systems in demanding applications. However, over the last several years, the increased demands for size, performance, and functionality have made the work-arounds impractical.

Porting the 32 bit designs to 64-bit processors enables much larger datasets, and solves the immediate size constraints. But it produces unacceptable compromises in operating and administrative function performance.

Loss of system uptime for administrative functions has become unmanageable — including backup, schema modification (inserting columns or adding rows), and shared memory extension. Functions taking milliseconds to seconds in a 100 megabyte database require hours in a 100 gigabyte database. Functions that take the database out of service are obviously unacceptable in the high availability world of modern applications.

Ancelus was designed from first principles to take full advantage of 64-bit hardware technology, thus overcoming all of the shortcomings of databases which have been ported from 32-bit technology.

White papers

Ancelus was designed from the ground up to take advantage of the power of lists and 64 bit architecture, rejecting the traditional relational database model. The following document is has more details:

• AncelusBrief_v3_0.pdf [85.60KB] An introduction to the technological challenges of designing an ultra-high performance database from the ground up.