Cost and Performance Advantages of Replacing HBase with TencentDB TDSQL TDStore Engine in Historical Data Scenarios

SHENZHEN, China, April 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- HBase has long been a preferred solution for large-scale data storage due to its scalability, high availability, and cost-effectiveness on commodity hardware. However, evolving business demands—such as the need for structured data management, real-time analytics, and cost optimization—have exposed limitations in HBase's functionality. TencentDB TDSQL  (TDStore Engine) addresses these gaps with a NewSQL architecture, offering MySQL 8.0 compatibility, cloud-native elasticity, and advanced compression, making it a superior alternative for historical data storage.

Key Limitations of HBase

1. Operational Complexity: HBase's reliance on multiple components (e.g., Hadoop ecosystem tools) complicates deployment and maintenance. Declining community support further exacerbates these challenges.
2. Lack of Secondary Indexes: Queries require sequential access to index and primary tables, increasing latency (e.g., 150 ms average query time).
3. Transactional Constraints: HBase only guarantees single-row atomicity, complicating consistency between primary and index tables.
4. High Disaster Recovery Costs: Dual-cluster setups (5–6 replicas) for cross-AZ redundancy inflate storage costs.
5. Compression Limitations: Default Snappy compression offers suboptimal efficiency, while upgrading to ZSTD risks instability.

Advantages of TDSQL TDStore Engine

1. Cost Efficiency
   a.   Storage Optimization: TDStore's LZ4+ZSTD compression achieves a 47% reduction in single-replica storage size compared to HBase's Snappy. Combined with reduced replica requirements (one TDStore cluster replaces dual HBase clusters), overall costs drop significantly.
   b.   Native Compression: Transparent data compression minimizes storage footprints without compromising query performance.
2. Performance Improvements
   a.   Latency Reduction: By eliminating redundant query steps (e.g., secondary index lookups), TDStore cuts average query latency from 150 ms to 37 ms.
   b.   High Throughput: A multi-master architecture supports horizontal scaling, handling millions of QPS for real-time transactions.
3. Enhanced Data Governance
   a.   Structured Schema: Unlike HBase's schema-less KV design, TDStore enforces predefined columns and data types, preventing invalid data ingestion and reducing post-validation efforts.
   b.   Unified SQL Access: Native MySQL compatibility simplifies integration with existing systems, avoiding middleware like Phoenix.
4. Operational Simplicity
   a.   Cloud-Native Elasticity: Containerized management enables seamless scaling and upgrades without downtime.
   b.   Online DDL Support: Schema changes (e.g., adding columns or indexes) execute natively without external tools, ensuring uninterrupted operations.

Case Study: Tencent Financial Services

In a payment records system, migrating from HBase to TDStore reduced storage costs by 47% and query latency by 75%. The elimination of dual-cluster redundancy and streamlined SQL access further enhanced operational efficiency.

Conclusion

TencentDB TDSQL TDStore Engine demonstrates clear superiority over HBase in historical data scenarios, balancing cost, performance, and manageability. Its cloud-native design, MySQL compatibility, and advanced compression align with modern requirements for scalable, low-latency data management. As Tencent continues refining TDStore, it aims to solidify its role in enterprise-grade data solutions.

#TencentDB #TDSQL #Tencent Cloud Big Data