FoundationDB

Spec sheet

What it does

FoundationDB is a distributed database that organizes structured data as an ordered key-value store.Read 5 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Product

FoundationDB is a distributed database that stores structured data across clusters of commodity servers as an ordered key-value store.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Security

FoundationDB supports TLS for communication security and authentication, but cluster connections are unencrypted by default.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Support

The project provides community forums for technical and user discussions.Read 4 Oct 2026 · foundationdb.org

Maker

The site identifies Apple Inc. as the copyright holder and says FoundationDB is an Apple trademark.Read 5 Oct 2026 · foundationdb.org

Application layers

Applications can connect directly to FoundationDB, to a layer, or to both; layers are stateless.Read 5 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Backups

Its integrated backup system creates scheduled moment-in-time snapshots of the distributed database on a remote file system.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Current release

The documentation identifies version 8.0.0 and says it was last updated on October 2, 2026.Read 5 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Data models

Applications can build richer data models on its ordered key-value store using multikey transactions.Read 5 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Fault testing

The project says its testing system is based on a deterministic simulation engine.Read 5 Oct 2026 · foundationdb.org

Fault tolerance

Data is replicated across multiple servers, and the system automatically finds a new location for a lost copy when a server fails.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Language APIs

Client APIs are available for Python, Ruby, Node.js, Java, Go, and C.Read 5 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Language bindings

Officially supported client bindings are C, Go, Python, Java, and Ruby.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Layers

Applications can use FoundationDB directly or through stateless layers that add data models, algorithms, or frameworks.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Limit: query language

The FoundationDB core does not include a separate query language; query languages can be implemented in layers.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Limit: transaction duration

Read/write transactions lasting over five seconds cannot commit.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Open source

FoundationDB describes itself as open source and links to community forums and contribution information.Read 5 Oct 2026 · foundationdb.org

Performance

The documentation describes FoundationDB as suited to read/write workloads and also performant for write-intensive workloads.Read 5 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Platform caveat

The macOS server is intended for single-machine development, while Linux is described as the best-tested and most performant platform for multi-machine clusters.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Reserved keys

Keys beginning with byte 0xFF are reserved for internal system use and cannot be read or written without the ACCESS_SYSTEM_KEYS transaction option.Read 5 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Scalability

FoundationDB scales out by adding machines and automatically handles data redundancy, partitioning, and caching.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Scale and resilience

Its distributed architecture is designed to scale across clusters of commodity servers and handle hardware failures.Read 5 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Transaction limit

FoundationDB does not support long-running transactions, defined in the documentation as lasting over five seconds.Read 5 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Transactions

It provides global ACID transactions with strict serializability using optimistic concurrency.Read 5 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Workloads

FoundationDB is optimized for OLTP and can also support OLAP through ordered range reads.Read 4 Oct 2026 · apple.github.io

Where Specifiction places it

• Key-Value Databases#10 of 317.8
• Distributed Systems#19 of 307.7
• Database Software#57 of 747.7