CockroachDB SQL database gets key updates to spacial data capabilities and security

Cockroach Labs just released CockroachDB 20.2, the latest version of its cloud-native, distributed SQL database. It includes new capabilities for spatial data, a new CockroachDB for Kubernetes option, and enterprise backup and restore functions for free users.

The open-source and freely available CockroachDB is the first cloud-native distributed database to include spatial data types and associated libraries. It’ll support net new workloads for Internet of Things (IoT), transportation and environmental applications, and includes a geodistributed database with geospatial capabilities. The syntax is compatible with PostGIS, an open-source software that adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL object-relational database.

CockroachDB on Kubernetes combines the cloud-native database with a custom operator optimized for orchestrated deployments. Its distributed, share-nothing architecture enables users to attach storage however they want, as CockroachDB manages the scale, resilience and distribution of data. The included Kubernetes operator simplifies deployment configuration and ensures no-downtime rolling upgrades in production.

The CockroachDB 20.1 update brings basic distributed backup and restore features that were previously available only in the enterprise version to CockroachDB Core, the free, open-source version of the database.This update ensures companies’ disaster-recovery plans are in place and they can freely build high-performing production applications.

The latest version of CockroachDB extends its TPC-C benchmark performance to 140,000 warehouses, improving its throughput to 1.7 million transactions per minute (tpmC), a 40% improvement versus 2019. The TPC-C benchmark serves to simulate e-commerce or retail environments.

CockroachDB 20.2 other updates include:

• The introduction of Pebble, an open-source storage engine that provides performance and stability improvements, in place of the old storage engine.
• The database’s new monitoring UI displays key troubleshooting metrics for developers to query performance, including an SQL transactions page and a database sessions page.
• It adds new SQL functionality, such as partial indexes, materialized views, enumerated types, and user-defined schemas.
• It gains enterprise-grade security with logging, Role Based Access Control (RBAC) and certificate management.
• Adds support for Java tools Hibernate, MyBatis, Spring Data JPA, and Spring Data JDBC; and the Ruby tool Active Record.

"We're committed to making CockroachDB the database of choice for developers everywhere," said Spencer Kimball, CEO and co-founder, Cockroach Labs. "We've listened to our users, and we've made improvements to all areas of the database, including a new package, CockroachDB on Kubernetes, to ease deployments in cloud-native environments. No matter what the use case, we want to equip every developer with the database they need to build and create their business's next billion-dollar idea."

Comcast, DoorDash, eBay, Nubank, JPMorganChase, SpaceX, and hundreds of other companies use CockroachDB for transactional cloud-based applications. CockroachDB builds on the traditional relational databases PostgreSQL and provides elastic scale, indestructible resilience and low-latency distributed performance.

"LaunchDarkly empowers development and business teams to control their software. Our customers depend on our services to be available, fast, and correct from anywhere on the planet," said Justin Caballero, senior distributed systems engineer at LaunchDarkly. "We chose CockroachDB for our next gen database because of its consistency and flexibility, and the control it affords over our data."