McObject has released version 4.1 of its Linux-ready, in-memory database for embedded and real-time transaction processing applications. ExtremeDB 4.1 is touted for improvements including the addition of CRC and RC4 encryption, faster on-disk storage and retrieval, a binary scheme option, support for custom collations, and improved transaction logging, says the company.

ExtremeDB maintains a code footprint as small as 50KB, enabling it to run in memory for most embedded and real-time applications, thereby improving performance compared to disk-based operation, says McObject. The Linux-compatible software is said to support transactions, concurrent access, and a high-level data definition language.

McObject last upgraded ExtremeDB in November with version 4.0, which added a new API and improved multi-user performance. In January, McObject followed up with a Java Native Interface (JNI) for ExtremeDB. (For more on ExtremeDB and related high availability and kernel mode versions, please see the links below, or our earlier coverage, here.)

Major new features in ExtremeDB 4.1 are said to include:

• Support for custom collations -- ExtremeDB 4.1 adds hooks for developing custom character sorting sequences (collation) for text data, including collation that supports particular languages or combinations thereof. This is said to be useful for internationalized search and other text-processing functions for a global marketplace. For example, a major European manufacturer is already using the feature to add multi-language search to its digital television electronic program guides (EPGs), says McObject.
  
  
• Binary schema evolution -- Users now have the option to save a database as a binary image and then restore it with a changed schema, or layout of tables, fields, indexes, and other elements, thereby streamlining design changes. For example, an older portable media player (PMP) design that does not display album art could easily be updated with firmware that can, says McObject.
  
  
• Faster on-disk storage and retrieval -- The Disk Manager process that manages interaction with persistent media has been improved in McObject's hybrid in-memory/on-disk version of ExtremeDB, called ExtremeDB Fusion. Version 4.1 improves performance by storing related objects closer to one another, keeping entire objects on the same page, reducing file fragmentation, and enhancing statistical reports, which is said to be useful for SQL optimization. Examples are said to include flash-storage based embedded multimedia devices that must quickly find and load content.
  
  
• CRC and RC4 encryption -- New Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) and RC4 encryption options improve database security, says McObject. Applications are said to include aero-defense systems, as well as embedded devices such as PMPs that need to ensure that digital rights management (DRM) code has not been circumvented.
  
  
• CRC-checking on backup -- CRC encryption has also been integrated in the ExtremeDB backup and restore feature, executing automatically when a file is loaded, as well as when it is saved.
  
  
• Improved transaction logging -- Databases can now be restored from transactions logged up to a specific date/time or according to an "application-defined bookmark," says the company. This is said to be useful for rolling back accidental or malicious mass deletions or changes.

Stated Steve Graves, McObject co-founder and CEO, "Version 4.1 focuses on improvements in core things that eXtremeDB does: managing data with breakthrough efficiency, adding safety and durability, and streamlining software development and maintenance." 

Availability

McObject's ExtremeDB 4.1 appears to be available now for Linux and other operating systems. More information may be found here.

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