Upgrading to FairCom DB enhances your database reliability

Part 1: SQL
Part 2: Reliability
Part 3: Performance
Part 4: Security
Part 5: Support

Don’t miss out! Benefits abound with easy FairCom DB upgrade: Reliability

Latest version provides users with faster performance and valuable new features

Note: This is the second in a series about the benefits of upgrading from a legacy version of c-tree to a current version.

It is an understatement to say that reliability is a necessity when using a database for mission-critical operations. The c-tree database (originally named c-tree, then c-tree Plus, next c-treeACE and today, FairCom DB) has proven its reliability to our customers for 40 years, including well-known brands such as UPS, VISA, Verizon, NASA and nearly half of the Fortune 100.

How reliable is c-tree? Well, there are still customers using versions from the mid-1980s, and one customer recently reported they only shut down the database every 10 years to replace the hardware. In fact, FairCom has multiple customers running mission-critical, high-velocity, real-time applications that simply do not experience unplanned downtime.

Yet, consider that in many of these cases, companies are running a version of the database that was authored a decade or more before the operating system on which it is running today. Using any application—particularly a mission critical component like the database—that was not tested on the operating system on which it is running creates a significant risk. This is particularly true when the version in question is no longer supported by the database vendor.  

While it is easy to understand why organizations do not want to change something that is so dependable, the reality is that upgrading to a current version of c-tree will increase your database reliability because of several reliability features that have been introduced over the years, such as ACID transaction processing, hot backups, point-in-time recovery, data change history, huge files, huge transaction numbers, and automatic schema migration (hot alter table). The benefits are amplified because the upgrade process is simple and easy.

One of the biggest benefits you will receive by upgrading is the ability to leverage transaction processing. Your application can start a transaction, execute multiple operations, and commit or roll them back as an entire unit. Meanwhile, multiple users can query and modify data in the database simultaneously with true point-in-time isolation from each other.

For database administrators, one of the biggest fears is the loss of access to their data. With FairCom DB, however, you can maintain ACID compliance if the server running the database crashes because FairCom DB can recover automatically without losing committed transactions. Also, you can back up the database at any point in time while it is running, and you can track the history of data changes for security audits. Another testament to the reliability of FairCom technology is that one of the world’s top backup and recovery solution providers, Commvault®, embeds FairCom DB into its products.

According to customers who have upgraded from an older version of c-tree, the Huge File Support capabilities are a top benefit. It is no secret that as technology advances, more and more data is being created. As a result, the ability to manage large files becomes more important. By upgrading to a current version of FairCom DB, you will be working with a database engine that supports file sizes up to 18,000,000 terabytes (or 16 exabytes) per file. As long as your storage system has enough space, you no longer need to worry about a file running out of space. Also, customers who upgrade from c-tree V7.12 and older can process billions of records per day without running out of transaction numbers.

FairCom DB V12 introduced Hot Alter Table, a feature that reduces the amount of planned downtime when you need to change the data structure of a table. Hot Alter Table is a form of schema migration. It allows an application to change the schema of a table immediately without physically changing any records. As the database reads a record, it automatically migrates it to the new schema before presenting it to the application. Then if the record is updated, the latest schema version of the record is saved to disk. The time to update a table’s structure (regardless of size) can be reduced from hours to seconds. Hot Alter Table allows you to easily manage “rolling upgrades” to tables containing very large numbers of records with no interruption to the application. 

To learn more about upgrading your legacy version of FairCom DB to a current version, please contact us at 1-800-234-8180 or click here for additional contact information.