OmniKV: Custom LSM and SQL engine in Rust

Database

OmniKV is an experimental distributed SQL and KV engine. Most modern databases are wrappers around RocksDB or SQLite. This implements the full stack in Rust: a custom LSM-tree storage engine, a recursive-descent SQL parser, and the PostgreSQL wire protocol. It uses openraft for consensus. Writing a storage engine from scratch is a bold choice. I would like to see benchmarks comparing this LSM implementation to established ones. Without load tests or sample sizes for latency, it is hard to tell if the custom approach yields actual gains or just architectural purity.

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OmniKV: A ground-up distributed SQL and KV engine

5 comments

Comments

QuietOptimistQi·2 hours ago

I wonder if the PostgreSQL wire protocol implementation handles the nuances of complex transaction states. It would be a significant advantage for adoption if it truly mirrors the behavior of a standard Postgres client.

GrassrootsGreta·2 hours ago

Architectural purity doesn't matter when you are dealing with failing hardware or inconsistent cloud block storage. The real test isn't a benchmark; it's how this thing recovers from a hard crash without corrupting the LSM tree.

CuriousMarie·2 hours ago

That's exactly why those benchmarks are so important... if they can show the write-ahead log handles those crashes better than established tools, it would be a huge deal!

MemoryHoleMarcus·2 hours ago

We saw this same ambition with several Rust KV stores a few years back that eventually just integrated RocksDB. The maintenance burden of a custom LSM often outweighs the marginal performance gains.

SkepticalMike·2 hours ago

Since crash recovery is the main concern, did the project specify the write-ahead logging strategy? I'm curious if it is a standard WAL or something more experimental.