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Apache Arrow VS VoltDB

Compare Apache Arrow VS VoltDB and see what are their differences

Apache Arrow logo Apache Arrow

Apache Arrow is a cross-language development platform for in-memory data.

VoltDB logo VoltDB

In-memory relational DBMS capable of supporting millions of database operations per second
  • Apache Arrow Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-03
  • VoltDB Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17

Apache Arrow features and specs

  • In-Memory Columnar Format
    Apache Arrow stores data in a columnar format in memory which allows for efficient data processing and analytics by enabling operations on entire columns at a time.
  • Language Agnostic
    Arrow provides libraries in multiple languages such as C++, Java, Python, R, and more, facilitating cross-language development and enabling data interchange between ecosystems.
  • Interoperability
    Arrow's ability to act as a data transfer protocol allows easy interoperability between different systems or applications without the need for serialization or deserialization.
  • Performance
    Designed for high performance, Arrow can handle large data volumes efficiently due to its zero-copy reads and SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) operations.
  • Ecosystem Integration
    Arrow integrates well with various data processing systems like Apache Spark, Pandas, and more, making it a versatile choice for data applications.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Arrow

  • Complexity
    The use of Apache Arrow can introduce additional complexity, especially for smaller projects or those which do not require high-performance data interchange.
  • Learning Curve
    Getting accustomed to Apache Arrow can take time due to its unique in-memory format and APIs, especially for developers who are new to columnar data processing.
  • Memory Usage
    While Arrow excels in speed and performance, the memory consumption can be higher compared to row-based storage formats, potentially becoming a bottleneck.
  • Maturity
    Although rapidly evolving, some Arrow components or language implementations may not be as mature or feature-complete, potentially leading to limitations in certain use cases.
  • Integration Challenges
    While Arrow aims for broad compatibility, integrating it into existing systems may require substantial effort, affecting development timelines.

VoltDB features and specs

  • High Performance
    VoltDB is designed for high-speed data processing and can handle a large number of transactions per second, making it suitable for real-time applications.
  • In-Memory Storage
    Data in VoltDB is stored in-memory, which eliminates disk I/O latencies and enhances the speed of data retrieval and processing.
  • Strong Consistency
    The database provides ACID properties, ensuring that transactions are processed reliably and consistently, which is critical for financial and other sensitive applications.
  • Real-time Analytics
    VoltDB can perform complex queries and analytics in real time, enabling immediate insights and decision-making.
  • Scalability
    VoltDB supports horizontal scaling, allowing it to handle increasing amounts of data and transactions by adding more nodes to a cluster.

Possible disadvantages of VoltDB

  • Memory Dependency
    Since data is stored in-memory, the amount of data that can be handled is limited by the available memory, which might require additional resources or configurations.
  • Complexity of Setup
    Initial setup and configuration of VoltDB can be complex, requiring a solid understanding of the system and expertise to optimize performance.
  • Limited to Specific Use Cases
    VoltDB excels in OLTP and real-time applications but might not be suitable for workloads primarily involving heavy analytical processing (OLAP).
  • Commercial Licensing
    While there may be a community edition available, advanced features and support generally require commercial licensing, which can be costly for some organizations.
  • Subset of SQL
    VoltDB may not support the full SQL standard, which might limit certain types of queries or necessitate changes to existing applications designed for other databases.

Apache Arrow videos

Wes McKinney - Apache Arrow: Leveling Up the Data Science Stack

More videos:

  • Review - "Apache Arrow and the Future of Data Frames" with Wes McKinney
  • Review - Apache Arrow Flight: Accelerating Columnar Dataset Transport (Wes McKinney, Ursa Labs)

VoltDB videos

VoltDB Explained in 2 Minutes

More videos:

  • Review - CMU Database Systems - 25 Ethan Zhang [VoltDB] (Fall 2018)
  • Review - VoltDB Founder/Engineer: Transactional Streaming - If You Can Compute It, You Can Probably Stream It

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Arrow and VoltDB)
Databases
55 55%
45% 45
Big Data
100 100%
0% 0
NoSQL Databases
36 36%
64% 64
Development
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache Arrow seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 40 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apache Arrow mentions (40)

  • Show HN: Typed-arrow โ€“ compileโ€‘time Arrow schemas for Rust
    I had no idea what Arrow is: https://arrow.apache.org or arrow-rs: https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Show HN: Pontoon, an open-source data export platform
    - Open source: Pontoon is free to use by anyone Under the hood, we use Apache Arrow (https://arrow.apache.org/) to move data between sources and destinations. Arrow is very performant - we wanted to use a library that could handle the scale of moving millions of records per minute. In the shorter-term, there are several improvements we want to make, like:. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Unlocking DuckDB from Anywhere - A Guide to Remote Access with Apache Arrow and Flight RPC (gRPC)
    Apache Arrow : It contains a set of technologies that enable big data systems to process and move data fast. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Using Polars in Rust for high-performance data analysis
    One of the main selling points of Polars over similar solutions such as Pandas is performance. Polars is written in highly optimized Rust and uses the Apache Arrow container format. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Kotlin DataFrame โค๏ธ Arrow
    Kotlin DataFrame v0.14 comes with improvements for reading Apache Arrow format, especially loading a DataFrame from any ArrowReader. This improvement can be used to easily load results from analytical databases (such as DuckDB, ClickHouse) directly into Kotlin DataFrame. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
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VoltDB mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of VoltDB yet. Tracking of VoltDB recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Arrow and VoltDB, you can also consider the following products

Redis - Redis is an open source in-memory data structure project implementing a distributed, in-memory key-value database with optional durability.

HSQLDB - hsqldb: Full-featured 100% Java ORDBMS

Apache Parquet - Apache Parquet is a columnar storage format available to any project in the Hadoop ecosystem.

CompactView - Viewer for Microsoftยฎ SQL Serverยฎ CE database files (sdf)

DuckDB - DuckDB is an in-process SQL OLAP database management system

Microsoft SQL Server Compact - Bring Microsoft SQL Server 2017 to the platform of your choice. Use SQL Server 2017 on Windows, Linux, and Docker containers.