The Inner Workings of Distributed Databases

QuestDB, an open-source time-series database, is designed for high-demand workloads, offering ultra-low latency, high ingestion throughput, and multi-tier storage with native Parquet and SQL support to ensure data portability and AI readiness. The database, built with C++, Java, and Rust, aims to implement high availability through replication, similar to the challenges faced in maintaining redundancy in everyday tasks like biking. The text explores different replication strategies across popular databases, detailing how QuestDB plans to integrate multi-master replication with asynchronous consistency to balance fault tolerance and transaction throughput. By using a Write Ahead Log (WAL), QuestDB enhances parallelism, achieving significant improvements in write performance. The database plans further development to distribute the Sequencer component and enable WAL sharing among multiple instances, while inviting community engagement through forums and open-source contributions.