How would you design a database on Object Storage?

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Dec 2, 2024

In this talk, Simon Hørup Eskildsen, an experienced software engineer and founder of Turbopuffer, shares insights from his vast experience in database scalability and object storage solutions. He dives into the challenges of building databases on object storage, discussing write-ahead logs, multi-tenancy issues, and the intricacies of handling multiple writers. Simon elaborates on trade-offs in write operations and the complexities of optimizing database read paths, offering practical strategies for performance enhancement. A must-listen for database enthusiasts!

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ANECDOTE

Shopify and Readwise

Simon Hørup Eskildsen helped scale Shopify's data layer, handling celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Kanye West.
He later consulted for Readwise, experimenting with article recommendations using vector databases.

INSIGHT

Cost of Vector Databases

Vector databases, while promising, proved costly for Readwise, ten times their Postgres budget.
This cost inefficiency inspired Simon Hørup Eskildsen to explore alternative architectures.

INSIGHT

Search Workload Architecture

Separate compute and storage for search workloads, offering a balance between OLTP and OLAP systems.
This architecture allows for easier experimentation and data re-ingestion.

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Join Kaivalya Apte and Simon Hørup Eskildsen from Turbopuffer as they talk about the complexities of building a database on top of object storage. Discover the key challenges, the nuances of various storage formats, and the critical trade-offs involved. Learn from Simon's rich experience, from his time at Shopify to creating Turbopuffer. This episode covers everything—from approaches to write-ahead logs to multi-tenancy and object storage advancements. Perfect for database enthusiasts and those keen on first-principles thinking! 00:00 Introduction 00:17 Simon's Background and Journey to TurboBuffer 02:42 Challenges in Database Scalability 04:21 Experimenting with Vector Databases 05:02 Cost Implications of Vector Databases 05:52 Architectural Considerations for Search Workloads 07:39 Building a Database on Object Storage 16:14 Designing a Simple Database on Object Storage 26:01 Handling Multiple Writers and Consistency 31:26 Trade-offs in Write Operations 32:36 Optimizing MySQL Write Performance 34:03 Batching Writes in Object Storage 35:08 Time-Based vs Size-Based Batching 36:32 Understanding Amplification in Databases 42:26 Challenges with Cold Queries 44:02 Building and Persisting B-Trees 50:53 Separating Workloads in Databases 56:07 Multi-Tenancy Challenges 01:00:39 Choosing Storage Formats 01:06:10 Key Innovations in Object Storage Databases Important links: - https://github.com/sirupsen/napkin-math (numbers) - https://turbopuffer.com/ - https://turbopuffer.com/architecture - https://sirupsen.com/napkin/problem-10-mysql-transactions-per-second - https://sirupsen.com (my blog, napkin math) - https://sirupsen.com/subscribe (napkin math newsletter) - https://github.com/rkyv/rkyv rkyv rust Become a member of The GeekNarrator to get access to member only videos, notes and monthly 1:1 with me. Like building stuff? Try out CodeCrafters and build amazing real world systems like Redis, Kafka, Sqlite. Use the link below to signup and get 40% off on paid subscription. https://app.codecrafters.io/join?via=geeknarrator If you like this episode, please hit the like button and share it with your network. Also please subscribe if you haven't yet. Database internals series: https://youtu.be/yV_Zp0Mi3xs Popular playlists: Realtime streaming systems: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL7QpTxsA4se-mAKKoVOs3VcaP71X_LA- Software Engineering: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL7QpTxsA4sf6By03bot5BhKoMgxDUU17 Distributed systems and databases: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL7QpTxsA4sfLDUnjBJXJGFhhz94jDd_d Modern databases: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL7QpTxsA4scSeZAsCUXijtnfW5ARlrsN Stay Curios! Keep Learning!