How a new database architecture supports scale and reliability in TiDB
In the good old days, databases had a relatively simple job: help with the monthly billing, deliver some reports, maybe answer some ad hoc queries. Databases were important, but they weren’t in constant demand.
Today the picture is different. Databases are often tasked with powering business operations and hyperscale online services. The flow of transactions is incessant, and response times need to be near-instantaneous. In this new paradigm, businesses aren’t just informed by their database—they’re fundamentally built on it. Decisions are made, strategies are drafted, and services are personalized in real time based on vast streams of data.
Relational databases sit at the epicenter of this seismic shift. Their role transcends storage. It extends to processing complex transactions, enforcing business logic, and serving real-time analytical insights. The structured nature of relational databases, coupled with the innate ability to ensure the atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability (ACID) of transactions, makes them indispensable in a world where data forms the core of business strategies.