Apple Acquires 'Rock-Solid High-Performance' Database Company FoundationDB

[D.T.]

Anyone have any thought on why this is interesting?

I don't believe it points to anything new, just improvement of their backend in terms of performance, scale and ACID (the latter meaning in general terms, consistent, reliable data). Could be for iCloud (docs, files - especially in terms of dealing with concurrent access to documents/collaboration), content and meta data for the store/iTunes, maybe a Parse-like backend service for IOS dev, the list goes on

 

[Dolorian]

Random thought, wouldn't this relate in some way to Apple's use of WebOjects for their online services? From what I hear WebOjects is outdated technology and is one of the reasons why things like the App and iTunes store are so slow. Maybe this signals Apple moving away from WebOjects?

 

[usarioclave]

What's interesting is they felt the need to buy it instance of license it.

 

[ttss6]

Not really on topic but came to mind while reading. Any ideas what Apple might do with liquid metal, or is it playing keep away from Samsung

 

[prasand]

Anyone have any thought on why this is interesting?

Personally, it's interesting because of the applications. Usually NoSQL + ACID addresses the requirements of real-time financial transactions / data. So I imagine it will utilized by a global Apple Pay push (perhaps aided by Apple Watch sales), medical / research data, and to streamline other services (possibly iCloud as others suggest) for their ever-growing user base.

Why dismissing the fact that this DB can be used in IOS devices.

It probably will eventually be utilized in iOS, but for now that's unnecessary for the purposely limited data storage of iOS, which is already quite optimized. It really is a Big Data matter.

 

[usarioclave]

What's interesting is they felt the need to buy it instance of license it.

As a note to those paying attention, it was consistently consistent in the jepsen tests. I pay attention to the space occasionally, and I think that result was considered impossible.

http://blog.foundationdb.com/foundationdb-vs-the-new-jepsen-and-why-you-should-care

 

[prasand]

it was consistently consistent in the jepsen tests.

Indeed, such is why buying it is more sensible than licensing. When customers are relying on Apple tech for health data (HealthKit), or financial transactions (Apple Pay) the ability to tout that their data is the fastest and most reliable ... that is a reassuring boon for customer and client / corporate satisfaction. Allowing competitors to leverage the same benefits wouldn't be in Apple's best interests, especially if they are seeking to become a global standard.

 

[Zachari]

I have no idea either.

This article flunks Journalism 101. The writer tosses about arcane industry jargon and assumes the readers will understand every word of it.

C'mon, Arn. Shouldn't we expect better from Macrumors scribes? Or is it because you paying them nano-peanuts?

What a ridiculous sentiment. You come to a Tech Journal, don't recognize a few words and discredit it as journalism?

That would be like going to the Business Section of the New York Times and not understanding business buzz words like collaborative consumption or caveat emptor and writing it off.

Don't make me laugh.

 

[coolfactor]

OMG.

I was looking forward to incorporating this into my web application infrastructure. Guess that's no longer going to happen.

 

[D.T.]

As a note to those paying attention, it was consistently consistent in the jepsen tests. I pay attention to the space occasionally, and I think that result was considered impossible.

http://blog.foundationdb.com/foundationdb-vs-the-new-jepsen-and-why-you-should-care

Indeed, such is why buying it is more sensible than licensing. When customers are relying on Apple tech for health data (HealthKit), or financial transactions (Apple Pay) the ability to tout that their data is the fastest and most reliable ... that is a reassuring boon for customer and client / corporate satisfaction. Allowing competitors to leverage the same benefits wouldn't be in Apple's best interests, especially if they are seeking to become a global standard.

Outstanding followup(s).

 

[keatth]

Can someone tell me what this article said in English? Like explain it like I'm 5 years old. Thanks.

 

[coolfactor]

Dear former customers of Rock-Solid…
Your trust in our Rock-Solid products is no longer rock-solid, literally.
Sorry to shatter your plans, but we ceased operations.
We have been assimilated.

Did you think the company was called "Rock-Solid"?

 

[Gasu E.]

What the heck are nano dollars?

A nano dollar is 1000 pico dollars.

----------

Can someone tell me what this article said in English? Like explain it like I'm 5 years old. Thanks.

Click on the links in the article.

----------

I have no idea either.

This article flunks Journalism 101. The writer tosses about arcane industry jargon and assumes the readers will understand every word of it.

C'mon, Arn. Shouldn't we expect better from Macrumors scribes? Or is it because you paying them nano-peanuts?

If you really cared, you would click on the links in the article. But this response is just whining.

 

[thelookingglass]

Maybe now iCloud mail will improve. I still can't search for messages on the web interface or my iOS devices…errors every time. Sad.

Do people actually use iCloud mail? I cringe every time I even look at it.

 

[powers74]

Because SockRolid is better.

WIN!

----------

Do people actually use iCloud mail? I cringe every time I even look at it.

I do. It's my primary personal email now. It was a little rocky at first, but I've noticed considerable improvement.

 

[Tycho24]

Wow!

If Apple can get Siri quieries to cost them three billionths of a dollar per...
Ummmm. I dunno lol! Add some cool stuff. =P

 

[AppleSauce007]

Anyone have any thought on why this is interesting?

This is great news for developers.
Apple already has what they call "Core Data" API that currently uses an Apple customized version of SQLite or XML or Raw as a DB store. FoundationDB is essentially that Apple customized SQLite on steroid.

Developers have always wanted an enterprise class client/server DB like Oracle or PostgreSQL or DB2 or Microsoft SQL. FoundationDB is not really like MS SQL or Oracle or DB2. It is modern, scalable and fault tolerant stuff with no old legacy bagage.

Apple is getting some great intellectual property and some top notch DB engineers.

Look for a major announcement at WWDC June 8-12 2015.

Wanna see Core Data used with SQLite using Apple's new Swift language?
https://youtu.be/3IDfgATVqHw

 

[D.T.]

Can someone tell me what this article said in English? Like explain it like I'm 5 years old. Thanks.

Called in a subject matter expert for you:

"Me hate when no have cookie, but hate even more when Apple lose Cookie Monster's data!"

 

[macintologist]

According to TechCrunch, FoundationDB may have been an attractive purchase for Apple due to its ability to handle ACID-compliant transactions quickly and its strong scalability. A company blog post suggested it could achieve 54 billion writes per hour at a cost-per-write of 3 nanodollars.

This reminds me of Silicon Valley and the Weissman Score.

 

[prasand]

If Apple can get Siri quieries to cost them three billionths of a dollar per...

Siri queries are definitely a viable application for the acquisition, especially if they will be growing Siri's skill set to actually learning about the users (I believe Cortana does this. Eventually Apple will need to do this). I've tried to get Siri to remember a couple of things (like how to pronounce my name correctly) to no avail. -- Granted ACID is overkill for such a thing, but ACID is applicable to other situations.

For example, besides HealthKit and Apple Pay ... another area for ACID is their car initiative. As that's A LOT of real-time data that needs to be processed, and damn-sure that data must be reliable. Position, distance, obstacles (such as debris, accidents, road conditions, a Barbie thrown out the window by a toddler curious to see her fly), weather, etc. would significantly affect the car's self-drive ability. Cars could also learn from the calculations of other cars on that route before. However, with unreliable internet I'm not sure how feasible a connected car is. A distributed AI would be necessary, where the individual nodes could handle a predetermined set of circumstances without the central AI. Another measure would be for cars to be able to exchange information without the central AI. So if one car connected to the central AI, but the other cannot for some reason, it can still acquire the data (or the two could even negotiate the optimal actions in absence of the central AI).

Developers have always wanted an enterprise class client/server DB

Indeed, and that is the very reason I believe Apple will eventually incorporate it into iOS. However, I'm skeptical about how soon they'd do so. As I doubt Apple purchased a database company to appease the desires of developers. Especially when Apple's approach has always been to instead tell developers how they should be doing things. -- Sooner or later iOS will acquire it, but I believe it will be as a consequence of Apple using it in other areas.

Still good news for developers either way! lol.

 

[ssgbryan]

So how long until Sir Idiot Boy makes it thinner and less capable?

 

[prasand]

So how long until Sir Idiot Boy makes it thinner and less capable?

That'll take as long as it takes for them to include it in iOS.

 

[bondsbw]

Wait, is this 0.003 micro-dollars per write or 0.003 micro-cents?

 

[OtherJesus]

I heard Samsung just bought a sapphire-solid-highest-performance data base company.

 

[prasand]

Wait, is this 0.003 micro-dollars per write or 0.003 micro-cents?

0.003 micro-dollars per write, or 0.00003 micro-cents.