Key developments in what we might call the “modern” database space include the now-widened scope to embrace vector databases, the use of AI for data query optimisation and the need to clock in on more temporally-charged and aligned data with time series databases. Aiming to cut a new edge in time-series data management is InfluxData with its latest releases built using a Python processing engine to bring data collection, transformation, monitoring, alerting and automation on time-series data.
InfluxData has this month detailed the shape of InfluxDB 3 Core and InfluxDB 3 Enterprise, the latest products developed on its redesigned InfluxDB 3 engine. Both technologies are built for rapid development environments and are said to be suited to large-scale production environments.
This is a high-performance scalable database for managing time series data and InfluxDB 3 Core is an open source, high-speed, “recent-data engine” for real-time applications.
What is a recent-data engine?
A recent-data engine is a software system designed to process large volumes of data that is constantly updated or changing. It is therefore built to focus on gathering, processing and distributing data in real-time (or near real-time), which means it is well-suited to applications that may be deployed in security operations, manufacturing, or data-driven decision-making.
InfluxDB 3 Enterprise adds high availability, enhanced security and scalability for production environments. The company uses terms like data enrichment and alerting that enable functions directly into the database with a built-in Python Processing Engine. This, say its makers, elevates InfluxDB from passive storage to an active intelligence engine for real-time data.
“Time series data never stops and managing it at scale has always come with trade-offs [in terms of] performance, complexity, or cost,” said Paul Dix, founder and CTO of InfluxData. “We rebuilt InfluxDB 3 from the ground up to remove those trade-offs. Core is open source, fast and deploys in seconds, while Enterprise easily scales for production. Whether [a business is] running at the edge, in the cloud, or somewhere in between, InfluxDB 3 makes working with time series data faster, easier and far more efficient than ever.”
Time series data is always in motion—streaming from IoT devices, industrial sensors, financial systems, and cloud infrastructure in massive volumes that grow exponentially. Its velocity and resolution quickly overwhelm traditional databases and data historians, forcing teams to rely on complex, costly workarounds that impact performance. InfluxDB 3 Core and Enterprise remove these constraints with a modern, high-performance architecture built to handle real-time data streams at scale with efficiency and precision.
A single-node engine
InfluxDB 3 Core is open source under the permissive MIT/Apache 2 license, giving developers a way to build on time series data without vendor lock-in. InfluxDB 3 Enterprise extends Core’s capabilities with enterprise-grade features for production workloads, including multi-region durability, read replicas, automatic failover and enhanced security. Both products run in a lightweight, single-node setup for fast, easy deployment.
Powered by the new InfluxDB 3 engine (written in Rust and built with Apache Arrow, DataFusion, Parquet and Flight) Core and Enterprise offer what the teams says is “architectural flexibility” compared to previous open source versions of InfluxDB. A built-in processing engine allows developers to transform, enrich, monitor and alert on data as it streams in, turning the database into an active intelligence layer that processes data in motion and at rest in real-time.
Multi-tenant pay-as-you-go
The result is the expansion of the InfluxDB 3 portfolio with two highly performant, scalable products that are easy to deploy and efficient to run. Both new products complement the existing InfluxDB 3 lineup, which is designed for large-scale, distributed workloads in dedicated cloud and Kubernetes environments and offers a fully managed, multi-tenant pay-as-you-go option.
“InfluxDB has been essential to our operations and customers’ success over the past seven years,” said Poul H. Sørensen, senior systems consultant at Orange Business. “The new InfluxDB 3 Enterprise aligns with our strategic goals, providing distributed monitoring with flexible storage solutions. It also gives us a future-proof foundation to accelerate ML/AI adoption and integration.”
InfluxDB 3 Core is now generally available as a free and open source download.
Free image: Wikimedia Commons.