WASHINGTON, D.C. / ACCESSWIRE / May 16, 2018 / In 2017, the database industry topped $50 billion for the first time. This is indicative of the seismic shift in the worldwide data storage market. With the internet generating exabytes of unstructured data per day and business moving towards a "bigdata" mindset, it is clear just how important the database industry is to everyday life.
However, conventional offerings are having trouble evolving fast enough to meet current needs. For years, SQL-based relational databases were the industry standard. However, their fixed structure and general single server approach mean they have trouble scaling and handling sparse datasets. Similarly, NOSQL approaches fail to implement a consistent language and often lack geographic distribution. In addition, conventional applications of both standards generally have low fault tolerance. As an emerging startup, Shardix looks to solve this industry-wide problem with the application of a promising new technology - blockchain.
Fault Tolerance
Fault tolerance is defined as how well a system holds up when any one of its components fails. Because databases are critical to the operation of any business, they must have nearly perfect uptimes and thus a high degree of fault tolerance. However, traditional databases are not optimized for this level of uptimes. Many databases rely on single server approaches where all data is stored in one location; and even if data is replicated, the replication factor is often low.
Many providers spend vast capital resources on state of the art data center and fiber networks to increase robustness and uptime; however, it doesn't obviate one likely culprit of faults, namely, natural disasters. The Tsunami causing the Fukushima disaster left many data centers and their clients crippled. Hurricane Sandy took down numerous datacenter in New York, and websites like The Huffington Post and Buzzfeed along with them. In Dublin, lightning strikes took out both Amazon and Microsoft datacenters. And there are more unpredictable sources of datacenter failures. Yahoo claims squirrels took down one of their datacenters. Google had problems with sharks. The stories of datacenter failures go on and on.
This is where blockchain comes in.
Enter Shardix
As a rising startup in the decentralized database industry, Shardix is creating a dynamically scalable, geographically distributed network to hold and serve databases worldwide.
The heart of the Shardix offering relies on a cutting-edge storage protocol. Rather than storing databases on locally placed servers, the Shardix system breaks the database into many smaller pieces. This process is called "sharding". Each of these pieces can be searched or "queried" separately, this minimizes lag times and increases processing speeds of the network. These shards are then replicated and stored on computers all around the world.
In much the same way that existing blockchain ledgers are stored, these computers are each run by an independent operator known as a storage miner. To join the network, these miners rent out unused storage space and bandwidth on their computers or existing mining rigs using the Shardix software stack.
Because of this new protocol, each database is effectively saved all around the world. As a result, databases stored on this network have an extremely high degree of fault tolerance. In the case of a network server failing, other running servers holding replicas of the missing shard would step in and take place of the missing server in the network. This results in continuity of service even in the case of jurisdictional adverse events.
Shardix has created a hosted network which serves as a proving ground for iterations of the underlying software stack. Live statistics for this network are available on the Shardix main page.
The Shardix Executive Team
With over one hundred years combined experience in the cloud and software as a service sector, the executive team behind the product has founded and advised top companies in the industry.
Olivier Meyer, CTO, was Senior Program Manager of the SQL team at Microsoft. CEO, Richard Nehrboss, is a serial entrepreneur who has exited multiple companies and developed software used globally. Mathew Cusack, Director of Ecosystem Development, was the first advisor to Sia Tech and cofounded Plug Power, a Nasdaq company. David Cleary, Infrastructure, holds numerous patents in network computing.
Leading other developers and IT professionals, the executive team is uniquely qualified to position Shardix as a global player in the cloud database industry.
Media Contacts:
Shardix
Phone: (540)-254-0002
Email Address: [email protected]
www.Shardix.com
SOURCE: Shardix