Kinetica is a distributed, memory-first

OLAP Online analytical processing, or OLAP (), is an approach to answer multi-dimensional analytical (MDA) queries swiftly in computing. OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational databases, repor ...

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

developed by Kinetica DB, Inc. Kinetica is designed to use

GPUs A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobil ...

and modern

vector processor In computing, a vector processor or array processor is a central processing unit (CPU) that implements an instruction set where its instructions are designed to operate efficiently and effectively on large one-dimensional arrays of data called ...

s to improve performance on complex queries across large volumes of

real-time data Real-time data (RTD) is information that is delivered immediately after collection. There is no delay in the timeliness of the information provided. Real-time data is often used for navigation or tracking. Such data is usually processed using real- ...

. Kinetica is well suited for

analytics Analytics is the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics. It is used for the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data. It also entails applying data patterns toward effective decision-making. It ...

on streaming geospatial and temporal data.

Background

In 2009, Amit Vij and Nima Neghaban founded GIS Federal, a developer of software they called GPUdb. The GIS stood for Global Intelligence Solutions. GPUdb was initially marketed for US military and intelligence applications, at

Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fair ...

for INSCOM. In 2014 and 2016, the analyst firm

International Data Corporation International Data Group (IDG, Inc.) is a market intelligence and demand generation company focused on the technology industry. IDG, Inc.’s mission is centered around supporting the technology industry through research, data, marketing technol ...

mentioned Kinetica for its production deployments at the US Army and United States Postal Service, respectively. As a result of their work with USPS, IDC announced that Kinetica was the recipient of the HPC Innovation Excellence Award. On March 3, 2016, the name of the company was changed to GPUdb to match the name of the software, and a $7 million investment was announced which included

Raymond J. Lane Raymond J. Lane (born December 26, 1946) is an American business executive and strategist specializing in technology and finance. Lane is best known for assisting corporations with technology strategy, organizational development, team building, ...

. In September 2016, it announced another $6 million investment, and an office in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, while keeping its office in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

. After adding marketing and service people, the name of both the company and product was changed to Kinetica. In June 2017, the company announced US$50 million in Series A funding led by Canvas Ventures and Meritech Capital Partners, along with new investor Citi Ventures and existing backer Ray Lane of GreatPoint Ventures. The company has headquarters in

and regional offices in Europe and Asia Pacific.

Software

The software is designed to run on graphics processing units such as the Tesla from

Nvidia Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...

. Partners include

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

Dell EMC Dell EMC (EMC Corporation until 2016) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and Round Rock, Texas, United States. Dell EMC sells data storage, information security, virtualization, analytics, cloud c ...

, HPE, IBM,

NVIDIA Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...

, Confluent,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

, and

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

. At Kinetica's core is a distributed, memory-first relational SQL database that utilizes the processing power of CPUs with the acceleration of multi-core GPU devices to analyze and visualize data with fast (often millisecond) response times. Kinetica is designed to handle streaming, batch and historic data. Other features include graph solving algorithms, user defined functions, geospatial functions, the Advanced Analytics Workbench for deploying machine learning and deep learning algorithms, natural language processing, automatic storage tiering, and Kinetica Reveal - a web-based dashboarding tool.

Customers

The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

deployed Kinetica in to production 2014. Other public customers include

Telkomsel PT Telekomunikasi Selular (trading as Telkomsel) is an Indonesian wireless network provider founded in 1995 and is owned by Telkom Indonesia (65%) and Singtel (35%). It is headquartered in South Jakarta. Telkomsel is the largest cellular tel ...

, Softbank, GSK, Pubmatic, and OVO.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Kinetica website
Proprietary database management systems Geographical databases Cross-platform software Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Big data companies Software companies of the United States