MonetDB

MonetDB is an open-source column-oriented relational database management system (RDBMS) originally developed at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in the Netherlands. It is designed to provide high performance on complex SQL queries against large databases, such as combining tables with…

Key facts

First appeared
1993
Category
database
Problem solved
MonetDB was created to address the poor performance of traditional row-oriented relational databases when executing complex analytical queries (OLAP, data warehousing) on very large datasets. Its design aimed to overcome I/O and CPU bottlenecks inherent in retrieving entire rows when only a few columns were needed, and to fully leverage modern CPU caches and vectorized instruction sets.
Platforms
Windows, linux, Linux, web, macOS, ios

Related technologies

Notable users

  • Various data analytics companies for specific niche applications
  • Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI)
  • European Patent Office (EPO)
  • Academic research institutions