ls ./tags/database
2026-07-30~9 min
Why Apache Avro Needs Two SchemasAvro payloads cannot be decoded without the writer schema, and that two-schema model is what makes rolling upgrades and schema evolution work.
2026-02-25~8 min
Building Index-Backed Query Plans in DataFusionWhat I learned about manually constructing physical query plans for secondary index queries, and the library that came out of it.
2026-01-30~11 min
FoundationDB's Transaction Model for Layer EngineersHow optimistic concurrency control works in FoundationDB, and how to design data structures that stop fighting it
2025-06-04~6 min
Thank You, DataFusion: Queries in Rust, Without the PainWhy Apache DataFusion, a composable Rust-native SQL engine rather than a rigid framework, finally let me plug real queries into our FoundationDB-based system after years of watching from the sidelines.
2025-06-03~7 min
Bypassing FoundationDB's Transaction Limits with Record Layer ContinuationsA technical deep-dive into FoundationDB Record Layer continuations, explaining how they enable long-running operations by segmenting work across multiple FDB transactions, effectively bypassing the inherent 5-second and 10MB limits.
2025-03-27~2 min
Key design tip: reverse number scanning in ordered key-value storesA key design trick for ordered key-value stores like HBase, FoundationDB, and RocksDB: reverse a number by subtracting it from its max value so a forward scan finds the highest one first.
2025-03-07~3 min
Debugging FoundationDB's Data DistributorA deep dive into the internals of FoundationDB's Data Distributor and how it manages shard placement and team priorities.
2025-02-11~4 min
Ensuring Safety in FoundationDB's Rust CrateStrategies and techniques for enhancing safety in the FoundationDB Rust crate
2024-04-22~3 min
Redwood’s memory tuning in FoundationDBLearn how to tune FoundationDB for Redwood storage Engine
2024-03-12~4 min
True idempotent transactions with FoundationDB 7.3Learn how to avoid FDB's biggest caveats by using a new feature called automatic idempotency in FoundationDB
2022-01-17~11 min
Best resources to learn about data and distributed systemsLearning distributed systems is tough. You need to go through a lot of academic papers, concepts, code review, before being able to have a global pictures. Thankfully, there is a lot of resources out there that can help you. Here's the best resources I used to learn distributed systems
2021-02-21~5 min
Crafting row keys in FoundationDBAn overview of all the helpers to generate row keys with FoundationDB
2020-09-23~3 min
Announcing Record-Store, a new (experimental) place for your dataOpensourcing Record-Store
2020-02-14~7 min
Contributing to Apache HBase: custom data balancingIn today’s blogpost, we’re going to take a look at our upstream contribution to Apache HBase’s stochastic load balancer, based on our experience of running HBase clusters to support OVHcloud’s monitoring.
2020-01-30~14 min
Notes about FoundationDBList of ressources gleaned about FoundationDB
2019-11-17~4 min
Diving into Hbase's MemStoreA code-level dive into HBase's MemStore, from the ConcurrentSkipListMap backing HBase 1.x to the in-memory compactions Accordion introduced in HBase 2.0.
2019-05-27~3 min
Playing with TTL in HBaseA hands-on walkthrough of HBase's TTL feature, how cell timestamps and compaction interact to expire data, and how to control it by setting your own version timestamp.
2019-02-03~4 min
What are ACID transactions?A walkthrough of the ACID properties of database transactions, from the 1983 Haerder and Reuter paper that coined them to isolation levels and PostgreSQL's MVCC implementation.
2019-01-27~4 min
Hbase Data ModelAn overview of HBase's data model, row keys, column families and qualifiers, and why key design determines whether you get good performance or a hotspotted region.
2017-10-08~8 min
Engage maximum warp speed in time series analysis with WarpScriptAn introduction to WarpScript, the stack-oriented language behind the Warp10 time series platform we ran at OVH's Metrics Data Platform to store and analyze sensor data.
revision history © 2026 Pierre Zemb · last rev. 2026-08-14
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