Memory-resident database MemSQL has MySQL interface

Like other modern database systems, the newly unveiled proprietary MemSQL database keeps all of its data in memory; doing so allows it to reduce latency, and avoiding time-consuming reads and writes to hard drives. What's different about the new database is that it transforms SQL queries into C++, which is then compiled and executed.

It stores compiled queries in a "skeleton" form, similar to the prepared statements used in conventional databases, in which all literals are replaced with placeholders. If the same query is executed a second time with different parameters, the server accesses the existing template and replaces the placeholders with the actual values.

Many modern databases retain query plans for repeated execution. The MemSQL web site nonetheless claims that it is "the fastest database in the world" – though no evidence for this claim is presented.

MemSQL can be queried from the command line using SQL, and MySQL tool mysqldump is used to export data from MemSQL. Like MySQL, data is imported by reading in an export file. Because MemSQL uses the MySQL protocol, it should be possible to use many MySQL interfaces with MemSQL; the documenatation specifically mentions Python and Ruby.

Although MemSQL does offer transactions, it is still missing many of the capabilities offered by other databases, including views, stored procedures, triggers and prepared statements. Developer and Trial Editions of the software are available to download as binaries for Linux.

(crve)