In-memory database for high performance, parallel transaction processing

• US 20040010502A1
• Filed: 07/12/2002
• Published: 01/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: American Management Systems, Incorporated (CGI, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: American Management Systems, Incorporated (CGI, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rothstein, Richard Stephen, Bomfim, Joanes DePaula
• Application Number:
  US10/193,672
• Publication Number:
  US 20040010502A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 Ensuring data consistency and integrity

Abstract

An in-memory file system supports concurrent clients allowing multiple updates on the same record by more than 1 of the clients, between commits, while maintaining commit integrity over a defined interval of processing. Moreover, a computer system processing transactions includes client computers concurrently transmitting messages. The computer system also includes servers, in communication with the client computers, receiving the messages, and in-memory databases, each in-memory database corresponding, respectively, to at least one of the servers, in which the servers store the messages in records of the respective in-memory databases, and the in-memory databases allow multiple updates on the same record by more than 1 of the client computers, between commits, while maintaining commit integrity over a defined interval of processing.

Claims

1. An in-memory file system supporting concurrent clients allowing multiple updates on the same record by more than 1 of the clients, between commits, while maintaining commit integrity over a defined interval of processing.

22. The in-memory file system of claim 1 comprising an in-memory log tracking transactions applied to the in-memory file system.

2. An in-memory database system supporting concurrent clients allowing multiple updates on the same record by more than 1 of the clients, between commits, while maintaining commit integrity over a defined interval of processing.

3. The in-memory database system of claim 2, comprising instances of the in-memory database, each instance corresponding to at least one server in communication with the instance.

4. The in-memory database system of claim 3, wherein each server accesses the corresponding in-memory database instance through a shared memory.

5. The in-memory database system of claim 3, wherein each server is paired with another server, and each of the paired servers hosts a mirror in-memory database.

6. The computer system as in claim 2, wherein the in-memory database comprises an index area and a data area.

23. The in-memory database system of claim 2 comprising an in-memory log tracking transactions applied to the in-memory database system.

29. The in-memory database system of claim 3, further comprising failover clusters, each failover cluster comprising groups of at least two servers, each server of each group of servers hosting at least one mirror in-memory database of another server of the group of servers.

7. A computer system processing transactions and comprising:

client computers concurrently transmitting messages;

servers, in communication with the client computers, receiving the messages; and

in-memory databases, each in-memory database corresponding, respectively, to at least one of the servers, wherein said servers storing the messages in records of the respective in-memory databases, the in-memory databases allowing multiple updates on the same record by more than 1 of the client computers, between commits, while maintaining commit integrity over a defined interval of processing.

8. The computer system as in claim 7, wherein said servers are organized into pairs of servers, and an in-memory database of one of the servers in a pair of servers is a mirror in-memory database for another in-memory database of the other of the servers in the pair of servers.

9. The computer system as in claim 7, wherein each of the in-memory databases comprises an index area and a data area.

10. The computer system as in claim 7, wherein the computer system processes the transactions at the individual transaction level.

11. The computer system as in claim 7, wherein each of the servers accesses the corresponding in-memory database through a shared memory.

12. The computer system as in claim 7, wherein each of the servers accesses the corresponding in-memory database through an application program interface.

13. The computer system as in claim 7, wherein processing of the transactions is suspended during incremental backup of the in-memory databases.

14. The computer system as in claim 7, further comprising:

local coordinators corresponding, respectively, to each of the in-memory databases and to the servers associated with each of the in-memory databases, and coordinating the synchronization points of each of the corresponding in-memory databases and servers.

15. The computer system as in claim 14, further comprising:

a global coordinator in communication with each of the local coordinators and coordinating the synchronization points of the local coordinators.

24. The computer system as in claim 7, wherein each of the in-memory databases comprising an in-memory log tracking transactions applied to the in-memory database.

28. The computer system as in claim 7, wherein processing of the transactions continues during full back-up of the in-memory databases.

30. The computer system as in claim 8, wherein the in-memory database comprises an in-memory log tracking transactions applied to the in-memory database, the transactions being simultaneously logged to the in-memory log of the in-memory database and to a in-memory log of the mirror in-memory database.

16. A method of a computer system processing transactions, said method comprising:

supporting, by an in-memory database system, concurrent clients; and

allowing multiple updates on the same record of the in-memory database system by more than 1 of the clients, between commits, while maintaining commit integrity over a defined interval of processing.

17. The method as in claim 16, further comprising:

receiving, by servers, messages transmitted by the clients;

storing, in records of the in-memory databases, the messages received by the servers; and

locking, by the in-memory databases, one or multiple of the records only while updating the records.

18. The method as in claim 17, wherein the storing includes storing the records to the in-memory database corresponding to one of the servers, and to a mirror in-memory database corresponding to another of the servers paired with the one of the servers.

25. The method of claim 17, further comprising tracking, by an in-memory log, transactions applied to the in-memory database system.

19. A computer-readable medium storing a program which, when executed by a computer system processing transactions, performs the functions comprising:

supporting, by an in-memory database system, concurrent clients; and

allowing multiple updates on the same record of the in-memory database system by more than 1 of the clients, between commits, while maintaining commit integrity over a defined interval of processing.

20. The medium as in claim 19, further comprising:

receiving, by servers, messages transmitted by the clients;

storing, in records of the in-memory databases, the messages received by the servers; and

locking, by the in-memory databases, one or multiple of the records only while updating the records.

21. The medium as in claim 20, wherein the storing includes storing the records to the in-memory database corresponding to one of the servers, and to a mirror in-memory database corresponding to another of the servers paired with the one of the servers.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising tracking, by an in-memory log, transactions applied to the in-memory database system.

27. A computer processing transactions and comprising:

clients concurrently transmitting messages;

servers, in communication with the clients, receiving the messages; and

in-memory databases, each in-memory database corresponding, respectively, to at least one of the servers, wherein said servers storing the messages in records of the respective in-memory databases, the in-memory databases allowing multiple updates on the same record by more than 1 of the client computers, between commits, while maintaining commit integrity over a defined interval of processing.