CrateDB is built as a distributed database using a shared-nothing architecture designed for real-time analytics on large, fast-moving datasets. Instead of relying on a single node, CrateDB distributes data storage, ingestion, and query execution across a cluster, allowing it to scale horizontally while remaining resilient to failures.
If you are looking for a general definition of distributed databases and common architectures, see our distributed database overview.
Built for modern data demands
Traditional databases were never designed for the scale of billions of events, streaming data, diverse formats, and real-time decision making.
CrateDB’s distributed architecture breaks through these limits by spreading both data and query execution across multiple nodes. Each node works independently, processing its share of the workload in parallel.
- Linear scalability: Add nodes to handle more data or queries instantly.
- High throughput: Ingest millions of events per second with consistent performance.
- Distributed execution: Queries are automatically parallelized across all nodes for millisecond-level results.
- Resilient by design: Built-in replication and failover ensure continuous availability.
How CrateDB distributes work
- Data sharding: Tables are automatically partitioned into shards distributed across nodes.
- Replication: Each shard is replicated to multiple nodes to prevent data loss.
- Query distribution: The distributed SQL engine sends query tasks to the nodes holding relevant data.
- Parallel processing: Each node processes its part locally and returns intermediate results.
- Result aggregation: The handler node merges results and returns the final output in milliseconds.
- Everything happens automatically: no manual sharding, no complex clustering setup, no downtime.
Multi-model and real-time
CrateDB’s distributed engine isn’t limited to relational data. It processes time series, text, JSON, geospatial, and vector data, all in real time.
Whether you’re monitoring sensors, searching documents, or serving AI models, CrateDB delivers the same speed, scale, and simplicity across every data type.
Enterprise-grade reliability
- Automatic failover: Continuous operation, even if nodes fail.
- Self-healing clusters: Nodes rejoin and resynchronize automatically.
- Rolling upgrades: Apply maintenance without downtime.
- Multi-zone deployments: Distribute nodes across regions for resilience.
This high availability makes CrateDB a natural fit for mission-critical analytics, IoT platforms, and AI-driven applications.
