Database Appliance Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to install the first dbWARE™ database node? And additional nodes?

A few minutes. Once the database appliance is plugged into power and network the operator provides network configuration information, makes a few optional entries in DNS and the appliance is ready to start responding to database traffic. Additional nodes are just as easy. Plug the node in, set up its network, and provide the IP address of one other dbWARE database node and the additional node will introduce itself to the other nodes and synchronize automatically.

What changes need to be made to programs and applications to use dbWARE™?

None. dbWARE accepts connections from all clients at the socket level and as far as the client knows, it is talking to a native database. The advanced dbWARE functions that keep multiple locations in synch and prevent data loss even through network or hardware failures are all automatic, and under the hood.

How do we get our existing database into a dbWARE™ node?

Simple. Use the import function on the dbWARE admin screen, answer three quick questions and all of the active dbWARE nodes will import your existing database. You then just point your clients to the closest dbWARE node and resume operations.

What administrative processes are required to synchronize a dbWARE™ node that suffered a network outage or a hardware failure?

None. dbWARE nodes self heal and resynch. If there is a network outage, once connective is restored, all pending writes from other database nodes will be synchronized to the dbWARE node.

Why is dbWARE™ databse nodes faster for remote locations than other solutions?

dbWARE nodes can be located on LANS very close to the users, even if the remote location is separated from the main office geographically. Reads are done at LAN speeds to the local nodes, and writes also occur at LAN speeds at the local node. Synchronization to the other dbWARE nodes is done using proprietary and high speed replication technology that is often 10X faster over WANs than other database solutions.

How many nodes can dbWARE™ support?

Most configurations will use 2 or 3 nodes, but dbWARE can be configured to support tens of thousands of nodes for use cases like keeping mobile apps or devices synched with a production database.

How many nodes do I need to achieve six sigma uptime (5 9s) ?

Three (3) nodes in geographically separated locations is sufficient

What happens if a dbWARE™ node has a hardware failure?

The node will be removed from service automatically, client work loads will be shifted to other nodes. When the node has been repaired, it can be reintroduced into the dbWARE configuration and will automatically re-synchronize with the other masters.

Our database is mostly reads, and some writes. Will dbWARE™ work?

dbWARE will give great performance enhancements to the read operations of your database because you can distribute the read load across all nodes and have each user community being served by the closest node. Write performance in many cases will be similar to write performance over a LAN, even if the nodes are running on a WAN.

Our database is mostly writes and some reads. Will dbWARE™ work?

dbWARE will work. Database performance will be as good as performance over a LAN, sometimes better and in some edge cases will be somewhat slower than a LAN.

We have several remote offices, all connected to HQ by different bandwidth networks. How will dbWARE™ work?

Local users will always see LAN performance to their local LAN dbWARE node. dbWARE will optimize the traffic to remote nodes such that nodes with the fastest link layer will run as fast as possible, and remote nodes with slower links will as fast as possible as well. But dbWARE does not “step-down” to the lowest bandwidth to keep homogeneity, it can adapt itself to different network types with little or no configuration by the administrator.