Citus is a distributed database management system that extends PostgreSQL to enable the handling of massive amounts of data across multiple nodes. It allows users to scale out their relational database horizontally, providing the flexibility to store and process large datasets efficiently. Citus leverages the sharding technique to divide the data into smaller, more manageable chunks across various servers, enabling faster query processing and improved performance for applications with high scalability requirements.
In the realm of Databases, Citus falls under the category of horizontally scalable databases. This category focuses on databases that can expand their storage and processing capabilities by adding more servers or nodes to the existing infrastructure. By distributing the data across multiple nodes, these databases can handle larger workloads and provide better performance compared to traditional vertically scaled databases.
Citus was founded in 2010 by the team at Citus Data with the goal of addressing the need for scalable database solutions in the era of big data. The founders recognized the challenges faced by organizations dealing with massive amounts of data that outgrew the capacity of traditional databases. Motivated by the growing demand for scalable database technologies, they developed Citus to offer a distributed database system that could seamlessly integrate with PostgreSQL and provide horizontal scalability for handling large datasets efficiently.
Currently, Citus holds a notable market share within the realm of horizontally scalable databases, with a growing adoption rate among organizations looking to scale their data infrastructure. As the demand for handling big data continues to rise, the forecast suggests that Citus is poised to experience further growth in the future. With its robust features for scaling out relational databases and improving performance, Citus is expected to remain a competitive player in the market for distributed database management systems.
