In-memory database systems (IMDS) are a growing sub-set of a database management system (DBMS) software. In-memory databases emerged in response to new application goals, system requirements, and operating environments. Below, we answer common IMDS questions.
What is an in-memory database system?
An in-memory database system is a database management system that stores data entirely in main memory. This contrasts to traditional (on-disk) database systems, which are designed for data storage on persistent media. Because working with data in memory is much faster than writing to and reading from a file system, IMDSs can perform applications’ data management functions an order of magnitude faster. Because their design is typically simpler than that of on-disk databases, IMDSs can also impose significantly lower memory and CPU requirements.
