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Algebraix: A new approach to querying huge databases

Algebraix says it has a new approach to querying very large databases. If it can do what it says, it is one very hot startup...
Written by Tom Foremski, Contributor
I met with Charles Silver, the CEO of Algebraix Data, a startup based in San Diego. He was telling me about his company's approach to querying large databases, very quickly, and with no need for prior indexing, or construction of data models. It all sounded too good to be true, I told him. If Algebraix can do what it says it can, it is a very hot startup. Here are some notes from our conversation:

- The founders are maths professors and they've created an 'algebra' for querying databases.

- It works on any size database, we haven't yet found a limit.

- It works on any data in any database, including unstructured data.

- It goes beyond relational databases, which are based on rows and columns, essentially giant spreadsheets.

- Usually, querying large databases can be a multi-million dollar project to create the right data sets and then the testing. No prior data modeling is required with our approach.

- We've just begun to talk to potential enterprise customers in the past six weeks.

- The CIA and Navy were our first customers and we now have pilots running at some large financial services companies.

- It can be used to power other applications. It works with standard SQL and runs in near-real time.

- You could use it to mirror any application.

- It is based on extended set theory.

- We've raised a total of $12m -- all from angels.

- We have 22 employees.

- It's expensive. Our list price is based on the size of the data and is $100,000 for the first Terabyte.

- It runs on any Linux based hardware system. Our development center is in Austin, Texas, and Dell has given us a bunch of machines to use.

- The size of the application is very small just 7 MBytes.

- I used to run RealAge, which collected lifestyle data on millions of people and recommended pharmaceuticals. I sold it to Hearst in September 2007.

- I was an investor then joined as Chairman and took over as CEO in the fall.

- We have four patents on the technology. Getting software patents is not as easy as it once used to be.

- People don't believe it. Even our own developers don't believe that it does what it does.

The Algebraix approach technology across different databases, it could become a perfect systems integrator technology.

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Please see:

Our technology | Algebraix Data, formerly Xsprada

Is The Relational Database Finally Finished? | The Virtual Circle

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