GenieDB designs around CAP to scale cloud apps

Among the biggest problems with developing applications for the cloud is scaling the database layer. NoSQL is great for scalability and performance, but it lacks in consistency. SQL has proven reliable for many web applications, but it doesn’t scale well. NoSQL and SQL vendors alike are rolling out some very innovative approaches to solving their technologies’ shortcomings, but GenieDB, a competitor in our recent Structure 2011 LaunchPad competition, wants to give its customers the benefits of both.

During his presentation, GenieDB Founder and CEO Dr. Jack Kreindler explained the company’s product as a data fabric that lets users build the database architecture that best suits their needs. It’s high technology, but the essence is that GenieDB is a distributed database that combines SQL storage and queries with NoSQL-like performance at webscale, and that works across data centers and clouds. The company acknowledges that GenieDB hasn’t found a way around the CAP Theorem to deliver Consistency, Availability and Partition tolerance simultaneously, but thinks its unique architecture means it doesn’t have to.

Although the product is in its very-early stages, Kreindler said that a few forward-thinking customers already are using it in production. The company also is developing specific versions and plugins designed to work with MySQL, as well as content-management systems Drupal, Joomla and WordPress. Another target customer base are cloud computing providers, which could GenieDB to ensure that users’ applications remain available by scaling the database across geographic locations.

GenieDB is headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and was founded in 2008, when it raised £250,000 (approximately $402,000) in seed funding.