Attributes of ActiveSpaces

These attributes of ActiveSpaces set it apart from traditional RDBMS.

Scalability
The biggest advantage of using ActiveSpaces is scalability. You can scale up the system horizontally to hold terabytes of data without bringing the system down. You also have complete administrative control over data redistribution.
System of Record
ActiveSpaces serves as a distributed, large-scale system of record that spans across nodes in an enterprise. The system of record uses the concepts of the traditional RDBMS such as table, rows, and columns. In addition, every node saves a portion of the data locally in a fault-tolerant and durable manner.
Data Caching
Nodes in ActiveSpaces can temporarily hold data in memory for faster read and write operations before it is saved to the disk.
Faster Access to Data
ActiveSpaces support queries and indexes that improve performance. Queries run faster because data is cached in-memory. Queries in ActiveSpaces are a subset of the SQL language. The filtering and indexing capabilities offered by ActiveSpaces expedite the execution of queries.
TIBCO FTL® for Secure Communication

In ActiveSpaces, data is cached in-memory. Thus, queries run faster. The filtering and indexing capabilities add to its efficiency. Query syntax in ActiveSpaces uses a subset of the SQL language.

ActiveSpaces uses the high-speed TIBCO FTL® messaging software for these key tasks:
  • Communication between application programs and the data grid. Presenting the data results of queries to application programs
  • Internal communication among data grid component processes
  • Configuration, monitoring, and management of data grid components
For the versions of TIBCO FTL that are compatible with TIBCO ActiveSpaces, see the readme.txt file.
High-Performance ACID-Compliant Data Grid
The data grid provides atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability (ACID) of data. ACID-compliance is achieved by using transactions and concurrency control across multiple tables.
Transaction Isolation

A transaction comprises a set of operations that can modify the content of the data grid. Owing to transaction isolation, an ongoing transaction does not affect the queries that are being run on the content. For example, if another system is trying to read a row that you are trying to modify, that system either gets the data before the modification or it gets the data after the modification. The system does not get partially committed transactions. Even if the transaction is distributed over a network that involves multiples rows and tables, transaction isolation ensures that there are no uncommitted reads (dirty reads).

To achieve the highest level of isolation, pessimistic locks are used. This lock isolates a resource from the time a transaction begins until the transaction is completed. This blocks any operation that could violate database consistency or isolation. Transactions take care of rolling back partially committed transactions.

Easy-to-Use APIs
ActiveSpaces provides tools for data definitions that are akin to the SQL language. You can also define how data is distributed across a configurable number of nodes. The support functions in the API are easy to use. You can use the functions to retrieve metadata information about the data grid, a specific table, or a result set.
Real-Time Push Events
ActiveSpaces provides real-time push events over the network to servers and client applications to change the data grid. Table listeners receive data change events through callback notifications.
Cloud Ready
It is easy to deploy TIBCO ActiveSpaces on cloud, on-premises, or hybrid environments. You can easily build TIBCO ActiveSpaces into microservices with container deployment products such as Docker.
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