Glauber Costa, CEO Turso: How to Build Horizontally Scaled SQLite

Links

- Codecrafters (sponsor): https://tej.as/codecrafters

- Turso: https://turso.tech

- The Save File Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGUwjXxvasIczMiiZ5joRlTA-PFydJZbb

- Glauber on X: https://x.com/glcst

- Tejas on X: https://x.com/tejaskumar_

Summary

Glauber Costa, CEO of Turso Database, shares his journey from coding for the Linux kernel to co-founding Turso. He started contributing to open source in university and developed a passion for low-level programming. He joined RedHat and later joined a database company, which eventually pivoted into ScyllaDB, a NoSQL database.

Glauber discusses the challenges and successes of building ScyllaDB and the importance of competition in driving innovation. After leaving ScyllaDB, he joined Datadog before deciding to start Turso. The opportunity to start a company arose, and Glauber and his co-founder, Pekka, took the leap.

Turso is a database that is based on SQLite and focuses on data replication. It offers a cost-effective and easy way to replicate data to multiple locations, with a single URL that routes requests to the closest replica. Turso is not limited to web use cases and can be used for various applications. It provides read-your-own-writes consistency, ensuring that when a value is written, it can be immediately read.

The term 'edge database' is not accurate for Turso, as it is more focused on data replication rather than edge compute. The confusion around the term 'edge' arises from the conflation of network edge and edge compute. In this conversation, we discuss the challenges and misconceptions surrounding the concept of the edge in web development.

Glauber also explains how messaging and positioning are crucial in the success of a startup, and how validation should be carefully considered. He also highlights the importance of moving fast and adapting to the needs of users. He emphasizes that replication is a core feature of Turso, allowing for high availability and performance, and the ability to replicate data closer to users for faster access.

Takeaways

1. Turso is a database based on SQLite that specializes in data replication.

2. The term 'edge database' is not accurate for Turso, as it focuses more on data replication than edge compute.

3. Messaging and positioning are crucial in the success of a startup.

4. It is important to carefully consider validation and not rely solely on positive feedback.

5. Moving fast and adapting to user needs is essential for success.

Chapters

00:00 Glauber Costa

03:21 Introduction and Background

12:39 Pivoting from Operating System to Database

27:15 Transition from ScyllaDB to Turso

31:32 Timing and Market Conditions in Starting a Company

56:31 Turso: A Database for Data Replication

01:02:52 The Horizontal Nature of Databases

01:06:03 Turso's Impressive Write Performance

01:09:37 Turso's Versatility Beyond Web Use Cases

01:16:19 The Need for Speed: Moving Fast and Adapting to User Needs

01:38:31 Conclusion

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