Navigate Serverless Databases: A Guide to the Right Solution

Serverless architecture, a paradigm that has been around for several years, has been transforming the way we build and deploy applications. In this approach, developers can focus on writing code without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. Instead of managing servers or virtual machines, they can rely on cloud providers to handle the scaling, maintenance, and availability of their applications.

While Serverless architecture has been around for a long time, it is only in recent years that the concept of Serverless databases has gained significant attention. Traditionally, databases, with their stateful and performance-sensitive nature, posed challenges in adopting a Serverless approach. However, the essence of databases is to simplify data management, allowing developers to concentrate on their core business goals. In this context, exploring and understanding Serverless databases can be valuable in the sense of enabling developers. 

HTAP: One Size Fits All?

An important idea in the database world is that specialized databases will outperform general-purpose databases. Michael Stonebraker, an A. M. Turing Award Laureate and one of the most influential people in the database world, also discussed this in his paper, One Size Fits All: An Idea Whose Time Has Come and Gone.

This is a rational judgment because it's tough enough to build a database that supports either Online Transactional Processing (OLTP) or Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) workloads, let alone one that supports both at the same time. But the dilemma is, that today, many users are facing increasing demands with mixed OLTP and OLAP workloads. How do we crack this then?