TechCrunch reported on Tuesday that Apple has acquired FoundationDB, a company that specializes in high-performance, durable NoSQL databases.
A post on the FoundationDB website notes that the company is no longer offering downloads of its database software:
“Thank you for your support of FoundationDB over the last five years. We’re grateful to have shared our vision of building the best database software and we strongly value your participation in this community. We have made the decision to evolve our company mission and, as of today, we will no longer offer downloads. If you have any technical questions, please email info@foundationdb.com.”
TechCrunch notes that the company was attractive to Apple likely due to the speed at which it handled ACID-compliant transactions, coupled with strong scalability. FoundationDB’s latest engine, which was covered by TC Columnist Jon Evans late last year, scaled up 14.4 million random writes per second.
Possible uses for FoundationDB’s technology would include bolstering Apple’s server-side technologies for its App Store, iTunes, or even Apple’s much-rumored streaming television service.
Financial terms of the deal were not available, although Apple did confirm the deal with its standard statement of: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
