RavenDB

NoSQL document-oriented database

RavenDB

Original author(s)| Oren Eini (aka Ayende Rahien)
Developer(s)| Hibernating Rhinos[1]
Initial release| 2010; 15 years ago (2010)[2]
Stable release|

7.1 / June 2025; 1 month ago (2025-06)[3]

Repository|

* github.com/ravendb/ravendb

Written in| C#
Engine| Voron
Operating system| Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Docker and Raspberry Pi[4][5]
Available in| English
Type| Document-oriented database
License| AGPLv3
Website| ravendb.net
hibernatingrhinos.com

RavenDB is an open-source document-oriented database written in C#, developed by Hibernating Rhinos Ltd.[6][7][8][1][9][10] It is cross-platform, supported on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.[6][11] RavenDB stores data as JSON documents and can be deployed in distributed clusters with master-master replication.

## History

[edit]

Originally named "Rhino DivanDB",[6][12] RavenDB began in 2008 as a project by Oren Eini (aka Ayende Rahien)[13][14] and is developed by Hibernating Rhinos Ltd.[1] The company claims it was the first document database to run natively in the .NET Framework.[15][16][7][17] It was an early document database to offer ACID guarantees.[8][17][18]

In 2019, Hibernating Rhinos began offering RavenDB as a cloud service named RavenDB Cloud.[19][20][21]

## Version history

[edit]

Version  | Date  | Features added (partial list)

|
|

1.0  | May 2010[2] |
2.0  | January 2013[22] | Replication[23][24]
2.5  | June 2013[25] | Projections; facet querying[23]
3.0  | November 2014[26] | Java API; Voron storage engine[27][28]
3.5  | October 2016[29] | Clustering[29]
4.0  | February 2018[30] | Became cross-platform; available with a free license[5]
4.1  | August 2018[31] | Cluster-wide transactions[19][31]
4.2  | May 2019[3] | Graph querying[19]
5.0  | July 2020[32] | Time series;[33] Data compression using the Zstd algorithm[34]
5.1  | November 2020[35] | Indexing attachments;[36] Hub/Sink replication with filtering[37]
5.2  | June 2021[35] | OLAP ETL;[38] Custom Analyzers[39]
5.3  | November 2021[35] | Concurrent Data Subscriptions;[40] Microsoft Power BI support[41]

* Red: Not supported
* Green: Supported

### System architecture

[edit]

Data is stored as schemaless documents in JSON format.[6][12][7][42][23][24][10] Documents are grouped into collections, with each document having exactly one collection.[23][24][43]

Databases can be deployed on a distributed cluster of servers (called ‘nodes’) using multi-master replication.[6][8] Some operations at the cluster level require a consensus of a majority of nodes; consensus is determined using an implementation of the Raft algorithm called Rachis.[6] Tasks are distributed to the different nodes in a balanced way.[6][44]

Versions 1.0 through 3.5 supported sharding, but versions 4.x do not.[6][7][8][23][24]

RavenDB originally used the ESENT storage engine.[12][13][24] Version 3.0 replaced it with a new open-source storage engine called Voron.[27][28]

Clients are supported for C#, C++, Java, NodeJS, Python, Ruby, and Go.[8]

## Main features

[edit]

* Cluster-wide ACID Transactions \- ACID transactions can be executed at the scope of a cluster (in addition to single node transactions). The transaction will only be persisted if it is confirmed by a consensus of nodes; if it is not, the transaction is cancelled and rolled back.[6][19]
* Distributed counters[45][46]

### Indexes and querying

[edit]

Queries are expressed in LINQ or with a custom query language named RQL (stands for Raven Query Language) with syntax similar to SQL.[6][7][8]

* Dynamic indexes \- in RavenDB is that queries can only be satisfied by an index; if no appropriate index exists, a new index is created to satisfy the query.[6][16][4][23][24][10]
* Graph querying \- related documents can be treated as vertices in a graph, with the connections treated as edges. This makes it possible to create recursive queries.[45][46][47]
* Projection \- indexes can be configured to transform indexed data, perform calculations, perform aggregations, and execute JavaScript code on the server side.[6][8][48]
* Full-text search \- at a low level, data is indexed with Lucene.net, which means indexes support full-text search.[6][18][23][24][49][50]

## Document extensions

[edit]

Documents can be extended with other data types less suited to JSON. These extensions can be loaded, modified, and stored independently of the document itself.[42]

* Attachments \- documents can have multiple attachments of any data type, such as images, audio, or pure binary.[4]
* Time Series \- numerical data associated with specific times and ordered chronologically.[34][33]

## RavenDB Cloud

[edit]

RavenDB Cloud is a managed database-as-a-service launched in 2019 on AWS, Azure, and GCP. The service performs administration tasks such as hardware maintenance and security for users. It features the sharing of CPU resources among the different nodes in a cluster to avoid throttling.[19][20][21]

## Embedded instance

[edit]

RavenDB can also be run as an embedded instance, a great option for smaller applications and proof of concepts, for instance.

From their Server: Running an Embedded Instance[51] page: "RavenDB makes it very easy to be embedded within your application, with RavenDB Embedded package you can integrate your RavenDB server with a few easy steps."

## Licensing

[edit]

RavenDB is open source under an AGPLv3 license.[6] It is available with a commercial license and a free license for open source projects, but it must be applied for.[52]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Other Vendors to Consider for Operational DBMSs". www.gartner.com. 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
2. ^ a b "RavenDB goes live!". ayende.com. 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
3. ^ a b "RavenDB 4.2 has been released!". ayende.com. 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
4. ^ a b c "RavenDB: Driving DX through DB infrastructure management". ciostory.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
5. ^ a b "NoSQL: RavenDB 4.0 jetzt für Windows, Linux, macOS und Docker verfügbar". www.heise.de. 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "RavenDB". Database of Databases. Retrieved 10 October 2020.[permanent dead link]
7. ^ a b c d e "Raven, a Document Database for .NET". www.infoq.com. 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
8. ^ a b c d e f g "RavenDB System Properties". db-engines.com. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
9. ^ "Hibernating Rhinos". hibernatingrhinos.com. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
10. ^ a b c Kaur, Harpreet, and Kamal Jeet Kaur. "A Review: Study of Document oriented databases and their Security." International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science 4.8 (2013).
11. ^ Wallen, Jack (2021-01-06). "How to create a new database with RavenDB". TechRepublic. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
12. ^ a b c "Ayende's DivanDB (also, is ESENT the most widely used database engine?)". blogs.msdn.microsoft.com. 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
13. ^ a b "Hidden Windows Gems: Extensible Storage Engine". ayende.com. 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
14. ^ "Interview with Oren Eini of RavenDB on database management, analytics & security". bigdata-madesimple.com. 2019. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
15. ^ "RavenDB Development: Finally, A Solid Document-based Database for Windows?". www.whoishostingthis.com. 2019. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
16. ^ a b "NoSQL Document Database - Embedding RavenDB into an ASP.NET MVC 3 Application". docs.microsoft.com. 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
17. ^ a b "Why Raven DB?". dzone.com. 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
18. ^ a b "RavenDB vs SQL Server". www.integrace.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 October 2020.
19. ^ a b c d e "RavenDB Launches Managed Cloud Service". www.datanami.com. 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
20. ^ a b "SD Times news digest: Google robots.text parser open sourced, Bonitasoft's cloud and low-code capabilities, and OWASP ZAP 2.8". sdtimes.com. 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
21. ^ a b "RavenDB Adds New Enhancements to Its Cloud-Based Database Service". it.toolbox.com. 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
22. ^ "RavenDB 2.0 RTM". ayende.com. 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
23. ^ a b c d e f g "RavenDB: A document database for the .NET platform". learning.oreilly.com. Retrieved 10 October 2020.[permanent dead link]
24. ^ a b c d e f g "RavenDB: A document database for the .NET platform". learning.oreilly.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
25. ^ "RavenDB 2.5 Release Candidate is out". ayende.com. 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
26. ^ "RavenDB 3.0 RTM!". ayende.com. 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
27. ^ a b "NoSQL for .NET: RavenDB 3.0 Takes Flight". visualstudiomagazine.com. 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
28. ^ a b "NoSQL: RavenDB 3.0 erhält weitere Storage Engine". www.heise.de. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
29. ^ a b "RavenDB 3.5 RTM released". ayende.com. 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
30. ^ "RavenDB 4.0 is out". ayende.com. 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
31. ^ a b "RavenDB 4.1 Release Candidate is out". ayende.com. 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
32. ^ "RavenDB 5.0 has been released!". ravendb.net. 2020-07-24. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
33. ^ a b "RavenDB Adds Time Series Query Support". i-programmer.info. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
34. ^ a b "RavenDB 5 Improves Distributed Time-Series, Document Compression, and Indexing". infoq.com. Aug 3, 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
35. ^ a b c "An Open Source NoSQL Database | The History of RavenDB". RavenDB NoSQL Database.
36. ^ "RavenDB 5.1 Features: Searching in Office documents". RavenDB NoSQL Database.
37. ^ "Filtered Replication | NoSQL Database | RavenDB NoSQL". RavenDB NoSQL Database.
38. ^ "OLTP vs. OLAP Databases: The Challenges of ETL". Datavail. May 21, 2020.
39. ^ "NoSQL Database Documentation". RavenDB NoSQL Database.
40. ^ "RavenDB 5.3 New Features: Concurrent subscriptions". Ayende @ Rahien.
41. ^ "RavenDB Features 5.3: Power BI integration". Ayende @ Rahien.
42. ^ a b "A document database for the .NET platform". learning.oreilly.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
43. ^ "The Design of RavenDB 4.0: The Implications of the Blittable Format". dzone.com. 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
44. ^ "Review: NoSQL database RavenDB". techgenix.com. 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
45. ^ a b "RavenDB Adds Graph Queries". www.datanami.com. 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
46. ^ a b "SD Times news digest: New Relic One, WhiteSource for Developers, RavenDB4.2, and VMware's acquisition of Bitnami". sdtimes.com. 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
47. ^ "RavenDB Features". ravendb.net. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
48. ^ "Data Modeling with Indexes in RavenDB". www.codeproject.com. 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
49. ^ Stevic, Milorad P. "Managing documents with NoSQL in service oriented architecture." Online Journal of Applied Knowledge Management (OJAKM) 1.2 (2013): 105-115.
50. ^ "Data Points - What the Heck Are Document Databases?". docs.microsoft.com. 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
51. ^ "Server: Running an Embedded Instance". Ravendb.net. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
52. ^ Tannir, Khaled (2013-09-04). RavenDB 2.x beginner's guide. Packt Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78328-380-4.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* RavenDB Cloud
* GitHub
* Ayende blog

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