We would like to announce a new technology called ChronicDB[1] that aims to update databases (both their data and their schemas) while they are running live, without bringing the database down at all.
The main focus of ChronicDB is to completely eliminate downtime in the presence of database schema changes. If a database schema is upgraded to a new version that is not backward compatible with the old version, ChronicDB will allow running both the old version and the new version of the database applications against the same version of the database schema until a database update completes. This means you don't have to upgrade all your client applications at the same time to be able to use the new version of the database. If during or after an update you are dissat isfied with the new version of the application, ChronicDB can reverse the database to the old version if the semantics of the application allow it.
Some features that ChronicDB provides without bringing the database down are:
- Lock-free schema changes
- Automated migration
- Database relocation
- Uninterrupted data access
- Hot backups and fault tolerance
A noteworthy feature planned for our next release is support for structural schema changes, such as partitioning fields or moving fields from one table to another.
We would like to invite you to learn more about ChronicDB[2] and to evaluate free, supported, pre-release versions of ChronicDB for PostgreSQL 7.4 and 8.x through our early adoption program[3].
Sincerely,
ChronicDB Team
[1] http://chronicdb.com
[2] http://chronicdb.com/chronicdb_why
[3] http://chronicdb.com/chronicdb_early_adoption_program
