Membase is a key-value store that is API-compatible with memcached. It provides persistence by replicating data across multiple nodes. The cluster structure allows elastic scaling, replication for high availability, and rebalancing of data partitions without downtime. Membase was developed by NorthScale and Zynga and is used in production for applications like Farmville.

1. an introduction to
MEMBASE
@tlossen, 2010-08-05
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2. “simple, fast, elastic”
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3. overview
• key-value-store
• API-compatible to memcached
- same protocol / client libs
• ‘memcached with persistence’
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4. status
• developed by NorthScale & Zynga
• used in production (farmville)
• released in June 2010
- Apache 2.0 License
• current version is 1.6 beta 2
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5. cluster structure
• all nodes are alike
- one elected as “coordinator”
• each node is master for part of key
space
- handles all reads & writes
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6. sharding
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7. node
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8. storage
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9. replication
• each vbucket has configurable
number of replicas
• protects against node failure
- quick failover
• master sends updates to replicas
asynchronously
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10. elasticity
• can add nodes at any time
• can remove nodes at any time
- replicas are promoted to master
• rebalancing necessary
• no downtime!
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11. rebalancing
• initiated manually
• membase calculates new vbucket
map
• masters / replicas are migrated to
other nodes (as needed)
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12. deployment
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13. q&a
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14. links
• “Membase Unleashed”
- northscale.com/
products/resources.html
• membase.org
• github.com/northscale
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