Good point. With databases distributing data in-memory across machines, shared memory becomes the database. Don't be surprised if Arc runs HackerNews on distributed memory some day...
But one has to wonder, what happens when you need to upgrade the app? Shutting down the process and destroying the memory image doesn't seem like the best option:
- First, it disrupts connected applications since the process is killed, introducing downtime.
- Second, when starting up again in say version 2, the data that will be loaded in memory still needs to be transformed in the format expected by version 2. This transformation can take time on large data, introducing further downtime.
The challenge would be to eliminate this downtime by combining a solution for both client disruption and state transfer. A data abstraction like a database using SQL can simplify such a solution.
But one has to wonder, what happens when you need to upgrade the app? Shutting down the process and destroying the memory image doesn't seem like the best option:
- First, it disrupts connected applications since the process is killed, introducing downtime.
- Second, when starting up again in say version 2, the data that will be loaded in memory still needs to be transformed in the format expected by version 2. This transformation can take time on large data, introducing further downtime.
The challenge would be to eliminate this downtime by combining a solution for both client disruption and state transfer. A data abstraction like a database using SQL can simplify such a solution.