Google has updated its managed database service — Spanner — with a new columnar engine to help enterprises run complex analytical queries on real-time transactional data for better decision-making.
The update, currently in preview, will tackle a typical challenge that most enterprises face: running a database that can handle both online transaction processing (OLTP) and online analytical processing (OLAP) without increasing operational overhead.
While databases designed for OLTP workloads, such as Spanner, excel at rapid-fire, high-volume transactions using row-oriented storage, databases designed for OLAP workloads, such as Amazon Redshift, BigQuery, and Snowflake, demand sweeping scans and aggregations across vast datasets, typically handled by separate columnar data warehouses.
