time-series database

Definitions

1. A database optimized for storing and querying data points indexed by time, such as metrics, sensor readings, and financial ticks. Time-series databases use specialized storage engines that exploit temporal locality, columnar compression, and automatic data retention policies. InfluxDB, TimescaleDB, and Prometheus are prominent examples.

   In plain English: A database designed specifically for data that arrives over time, like temperature readings or server performance metrics — optimized for questions like 'what happened between 2pm and 3pm?'

   Example: We moved our metrics from PostgreSQL to a time-series database and the 'average response time over 30 days' query went from 45 seconds to 200 milliseconds.

Related Terms

• column store
• graph database
• data lake
• RocksDB
• Time Series
• Write Concern
• Database Activity Monitoring