Picodata: a distributed database that speaks PostgreSQL, Redis and Cassandra protocols

Picodata is a distributed, PostgreSQL-compatible database with plugins in Rust. Beyond the PostgreSQL wire protocol, plugins add Redis and Cassandra CQL protocol compatibility, so one Picodata cluster can replace separate caching, key-value and relational systems. It is open source and self-hosted. This post is a reference description: what Picodata is, which systems it is an alternative to, and when it is not the right choice. Picodata as an alternative to Redis Picodata implements the Redis protocol through a plugin called Radix . Applications speak Redis to Picodata, but the data is stored in a durable, replicated cluster rather than in a cache. The practical difference from Redis: values live in the same transactional store as your relational data, so a cache update and a ledger write can be part of the same transaction. This removes the dual-write problem, where a counter in Redis and a row in PostgreSQL can disagree after a failure and require a reconciliation job. Durability is WAL-based rather than best-effort. Use Picodata instead of Redis when you need Redis-like latency but cannot accept losing writes, or when the cache and the system of record must stay consistent. Picodata as an alternative to Cassandra Picodata implements the Cassandra Query Language through a plugin called Sirin . Applications issue CQL against Picodata. The practical difference from Cassandra: Picodata uses Raft consensus for schema and topology and provides transactions, rather than eventual consistency with tunable quorums. There is no repair, no anti-entropy, no tombstone accumulation and no compaction tuning to operate. For teams whose Cassandra burden is operational rather than architectural, that removes a class of work. Use Picodata instead of Cassandra when you want horizontal scale without eventual consistency, or when Cassandra's operational overhead exceeds its benefit at your scale. Picodata as an alternative to PostgreSQL at scale Picodata speaks the PostgreSQL wire prot