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Time Series Databases

Questions about time series database developments, mentions of QuestDB, ClickHouse's experimental time series engine, and need for InfluxDB alternatives

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While some developers are tracking the rise of QuestDB and ClickHouse’s experimental engine as viable alternatives to InfluxDB, others argue for a more fundamental shift toward modular, "Lego block" database architectures. There is a clear desire for specialized time-series capabilities—such as treating timelines like 1D GIS regions—to be implemented as extensible plugins for established systems rather than standalone databases that require custom SQL parsers. Ultimately, the discussion highlights a tension between the innovation of niche engines like XTDB and the frustrating fragmentation caused by a lack of interoperability between specialized database verticals.

5 comments tagged with this topic

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XTDB addresses a real use-case. I wish we invested more in time series databases actually: there's a ton of potential in a GIS-style database, but 1D and oriented around regions on the timeline, not shapes in space. That said, it's kind of frustrating that XTDB has to be its own top-level database instead of a storage engine or plugin for another. XTDB's core competence is its approach to temporal row tagging and querying. What part of this core competence requires a new SQL parser? I get that the XTDB people don't want to expose their feature set as a bunch of awkward table-valued functions or whatever. Ideally, DB plugins for Postgres, SQLite, DuckDB, whatever would be able to extend the SQL grammar itself (which isn't that hard if you structure a PEG parser right) and expose new capabilities in an ergonomic way so we don't end up with a world of custom database-verticals each built around one neat idea and duplicating the rest. I'd love to see databases built out of reusable lego blocks to a greater extent than today. Why doesn't Calcite get more love? Is it the Java smell?
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Nothing about time series-oriented databases?
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> Nothing about time series-oriented databases? https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pavlo/blog/2026/01/2025-databases-re...
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Not much happened I guess. Clickhouse has got an experimental time series engine : https://clickhouse.com/docs/engines/table-engines/special/ti...
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QuestDB at least is gaining some popularity: https://questdb.com/ I was hoping to learn about some new potentially viable alternatives to InfluxDB, alas it seems I'll continue using it for now.