Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

VoltDB VS pghoard

Compare VoltDB VS pghoard and see what are their differences

VoltDB logo VoltDB

In-memory relational DBMS capable of supporting millions of database operations per second

pghoard logo pghoard

Tools for making PostgreSQL backups to cloud object storages
  • VoltDB Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17
  • pghoard Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-03

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.

pghoard features and specs

  • Multi-cloud object storage support
    pghoard supports backing up to multiple cloud storage providers including AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage, Swift, and local filesystem, giving flexibility in choosing or switching backup destinations.
  • Streaming WAL archiving and compression
    It supports continuous WAL streaming and archiving with built-in compression (using algorithms like Snappy, LZMA, or zstd) and encryption, reducing storage costs and improving backup transfer efficiency.
  • Point-in-time recovery (PITR)
    pghoard enables point-in-time recovery by combining base backups with WAL segments, allowing restoration of a PostgreSQL database to any specific moment, which is critical for disaster recovery scenarios.
  • Open source and actively maintained by Aiven
    Being maintained by Aiven, a company specializing in managed database services, pghoard benefits from real-world production use, ongoing updates, and community contributions, ensuring reliability and continued support.
  • REST API and monitoring integration
    It provides a REST API for managing and monitoring backup operations, and can integrate with monitoring systems, making it easier to automate backup workflows and track backup health in production environments.

Possible disadvantages of pghoard

  • PostgreSQL-specific tool
    pghoard is designed exclusively for PostgreSQL, so organizations using multiple database systems would need separate backup solutions for other databases, increasing operational complexity.
  • Complex initial setup and configuration
    Setting up pghoard requires careful configuration of cloud storage credentials, encryption keys, and WAL-G-like settings, which can be complex for users unfamiliar with PostgreSQL internals or cloud storage APIs.
  • Limited GUI or dashboard
    pghoard primarily operates via command-line and configuration files with a basic REST API, lacking a polished web-based dashboard for easier visualization and management compared to some commercial backup solutions.
  • Documentation gaps for edge cases
    While basic documentation exists, users have reported that some advanced use cases, troubleshooting steps, and edge-case scenarios are not thoroughly documented, requiring deeper investigation into the source code.
  • Smaller community compared to alternatives
    Compared to more widely adopted tools like pgBackRest or Barman, pghoard has a smaller user community and fewer third-party resources, tutorials, or plugins, which may limit support options for troubleshooting.

Analysis of pghoard

Overall verdict

  • pghoard is a solid, mature open-source backup and restore solution for PostgreSQL, developed by Aiven and used in production for managing cloud-based PostgreSQL backups. It's well-suited for teams needing reliable, automated backup management with cloud storage integration, though it requires some setup and PostgreSQL administration knowledge to use effectively.

Why this product is good

  • Supports multiple cloud storage backends including AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Azure Blob Storage
  • Provides continuous WAL archiving and base backups for point-in-time recovery
  • Battle-tested in production by Aiven for their managed PostgreSQL service
  • Open source with an active development history and community support
  • Handles backup compression and encryption out of the box
  • Supports multiple PostgreSQL versions and can manage backups for multiple clusters
  • Written in Python, making it relatively easy to extend or customize

Recommended for

  • Organizations running self-hosted PostgreSQL databases who need robust backup solutions
  • DevOps teams looking for cloud-native backup tooling with multi-provider storage support
  • Companies requiring point-in-time recovery capabilities for compliance or disaster recovery
  • Users already familiar with Aiven's ecosystem or seeking battle-tested tools from a managed database provider
  • Teams needing to manage backups across multiple PostgreSQL instances or clusters
  • Users comfortable with Python-based tooling and command-line configuration

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

pghoard videos

No pghoard videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to VoltDB and pghoard)
NoSQL Databases
100 100%
0% 0
Databases
89 89%
11% 11
MySQL Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, pghoard seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 2 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.

VoltDB mentions (0)

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

pghoard mentions (2)

  • Pgbackrest is no longer being maintained
    The "closest" would be using Barman with hook scripts (https://docs.pgbarman.org/release/3.18.0/user_guide/hook_scripts.html#hook-scripts-using-barman-cloud-scripts-as-hooks-in-barman) if you rely on cloud storage for storing backups. https://github.com/aiven-open/pghoard seems like a good option too, but I havenโ€™t tested it yet to have a solid opinion. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Future PostgreSQL: improvement to the replication protocol
    This story starts with our own PgHoard, a PITR backup tool for PostgreSQL. PgHoard offers several methods to archive the WAL (Write Ahead Log), including pg_receivewal, a small application shipping with PostgreSQL which connects to a PostgreSQL cluster using the physical replication protocol to stream WAL as they are produced, optionally keeping track of the position on the server using a replication slot. - Source: dev.to / over 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

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

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HSQLDB - hsqldb: Full-featured 100% Java ORDBMS