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Baidu Tera

github.com

LinuxAPISelf-hosted
Visit github.com
Spec score 7.2 #11 of 22 in Wide-Column Databases

What it is

Baidu Tera is a free, self-hosted distributed NoSQL database for real-time applications. It stores sparse, multidimensional tables indexed by row key, column key and timestamp, with the project describing scale to petabytes across thousands of commodity servers. Tera supports strict consistency, MVCC, automatic failover, online schema changes and snapshots. Configurable automatic sharding can use ranged or hashed strategies, with linear and modular scalability. Storage options include RAMDISK, SSD and disk tables, plus tiered and block caches and Bloom Filters for real-time queries. Applications can connect through C++, Java, Python and REST APIs. Its architecture includes an SDK, master and tablet servers using an enhanced LevelDB engine. Deployment can use raw machines or Docker, with pseudo-distributed operation on one host. The repository lists BSD-3-Clause and Apache-2.0 licenses.

Spec sheet

Product
Tera is a high-performance distributed NoSQL database designed for real-time applications.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Deployment
The README says Tera can run on raw machines or in Docker, and describes a pseudo-distributed mode on a single host using the local filesystem.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Integrations
Tera's README lists HDFS and other filesystems, ZooKeeper and Nexus lock services, and Sofa-pbrpc as infrastructure dependencies.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
License
The repository lists BSD-3-Clause and Apache-2.0 licenses.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Architecture
Tera consists of an SDK, a master, and tablet servers; tablet servers use an enhanced LevelDB storage engine and handle read, write, and scan requests.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Client APIs
The README lists C++, Java, Python, and RESTful APIs for accessing Tera.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Client interfaces
The project lists C++, Java, Python, and REST APIs.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Consistency and availability
Listed features include strict consistency, automatic failover, online schema changes, and snapshots.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Data and consistency
Tera supports MVCC, column-oriented storage with locality groups, and strict consistency.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Data model
Tera stores sparse, distributed, multidimensional tables indexed by row key, column key, and timestamp.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Documentation
The English documentation index links to user manuals for pseudo-distributed mode, the API, and teracli, plus a performance benchmark page.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Intended use
The README describes use in throughput-oriented and latency-sensitive Baidu products, including web indexing, WebPage DB, and LinkBase DB.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Operations
Listed capabilities include automatic failover, online schema changes, and snapshots.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Scale
The project says Tera can scale to petabytes of data across thousands of commodity servers.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Security and compliance
The repository lists BSD-3-Clause and Apache-2.0 licenses; the README does not state security certifications or compliance claims.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Sharding
Features include linear and modular scalability, automatic configurable sharding, and ranged or hashed sharding strategies.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Storage and queries
Tera supports RAMDISK, SSD, and disk tables, tiered cache, block cache, and Bloom Filters for real-time queries.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Support and contribution
The README welcomes contributions and provides [email protected] for joining the project.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Use cases
Baidu says it uses Tera in products including web indexing, WebPage DB, and LinkBase DB, for workloads ranging from throughput-oriented applications to latency-sensitive services.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Free open-source distribution
  • Strong consistency and MVCC
  • Automatic failover and snapshots
  • Configurable ranged or hashed sharding
  • C++, Java, Python and REST APIs

Limits

  • Self-hosted deployment required
  • Depends on infrastructure such as HDFS or ZooKeeper
  • No free trial is listed

Who it suits

Tera suits teams building throughput-oriented or latency-sensitive services that need a self-hosted distributed database. It is also relevant where strong consistency, transactions and horizontal scaling are required.

Verdict

Tera provides a broad distributed database feature set, including strong consistency, failover, sharding and multiple client APIs. Its self-hosted model and infrastructure dependencies require operational resources from adopters.

Where Specifiction places it

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