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Product > Data models

Time Series Data

CrateDB allows to query complex time series data in milliseconds, while leveraging the simplicity of SQL. You can easily enrich your time series data with other types of data, handle high ingest rates, and store years of history.
 

Time series data querying with SQL

Hyper-fast. Results in milliseconds.

 

        

/* Based on device data, this query returns the average
 * of the battery level for every hour for each device_id
 */
WITH avg_metrics AS (
    SELECT device_id,
       DATE_BIN('1 hour'::INTERVAL, time, 0) AS period,
       AVG(battery_level) AS avg_battery_level
    FROM devices.readings
    GROUP BY 1, 2 
    ORDER BY 1, 2
)
SELECT period,
       t.device_id,
       manufacturer,
       avg_battery_level  
FROM avg_metrics t, devices.info i
WHERE t.device_id = i.device_id 
      AND model = 'mustang'
LIMIT 10;


        
        
        

+---------------+------------+--------------+-------------------+
|    period     |  device_id | manufacturer | avg_battery_level |
+---------------+------------+--------------+-------------------+
| 1480802400000 | demo000001 |    iobeam    | 49.25757575757576 |
| 1480806000000 | demo000001 |    iobeam    | 47.375            |
| 1480802400000 | demo000007 |    iobeam    | 25.53030303030303 |
| 1480806000000 | demo000007 |    iobeam    | 58.5              |
| 1480802400000 | demo000010 |    iobeam    | 34.90909090909091 |
| 1480806000000 | demo000010 |    iobeam    | 32.4              |
| 1480802400000 | demo000016 |    iobeam    | 36.06060606060606 |
| 1480806000000 | demo000016 |    iobeam    | 35.45             |
| 1480802400000 | demo000025 |    iobeam    | 12                |
| 1480806000000 | demo000025 |    iobeam    | 16.475            |
+---------------+------------+--------------+-------------------+


        
        
        

/* To identify gaps on the readings, the following queries generates a series
 * and by joining it with the original data, you can spot any gap */
with avg_battery AS (
  SELECT battery_level, time 
  FROM devices.readings
  WHERE device_id = 'demo000007' 
  AND time > 1480118400000 
  AND time < 1480301200000
  ORDER BY 2
),

all_hours AS (
  SELECT generate_series(1480118430000,1480301200000,'30 second'::interval) AS generated_hours
)

SELECT time, generated_hours, battery_level
FROM all_hours 
LEFT JOIN avg_battery ON generated_hours = time
ORDER BY 2
LIMIT 20;


        
        
        

+---------------+---------------+---------------+
|          time |         hours | battery_level |
+---------------+---------------+---------------+
| 1480118430000 | 1480118430000 |            67 |
| 1480118460000 | 1480118460000 |            66 |
| 1480118490000 | 1480118490000 |            66 |
| 1480118520000 | 1480118520000 |            66 |
| 1480118550000 | 1480118550000 |            66 |
| 1480118580000 | 1480118580000 |            66 |
| 1480118610000 | 1480118610000 |            65 |
| 1480118640000 | 1480118640000 |          NULL |
| 1480118670000 | 1480118670000 |            65 |
| 1480118700000 | 1480118700000 |            65 |
| 1480118730000 | 1480118730000 |            65 |
| 1480118760000 | 1480118760000 |            65 |
| 1480118790000 | 1480118790000 |            65 |
| 1480118820000 | 1480118820000 |            65 |
| 1480118850000 | 1480118850000 |            65 |
| 1480118880000 | 1480118880000 |            65 |
| 1480118910000 | 1480118910000 |            65 |
| 1480118940000 | 1480118940000 |            65 |
| 1480118970000 | 1480118970000 |          NULL |
| 1480119000000 | 1480119000000 |          NULL |
+---------------+---------------+---------------+


        
        
        

/* Based on device data, this query returns the number of battery charges 
 * per day for a given device_id */
WITH aux_charging AS (
    SELECT time, 
      DATE_BIN('P1D'::INTERVAL,time,0) AS day, 
      battery_status, 
      LAG(battery_status) OVER (PARTITION BY device_id ORDER BY time) AS prev_battery_status
    FROM devices.readings
    WHERE device_id = 'demo000001'
    ORDER BY time
  ),

count_start_charging AS (
    SELECT day, (case when battery_status <> prev_battery_status then 1 else 0 end) AS start_charging
    FROM aux_charging
    ORDER BY 1
  )

SELECT day, sum(start_charging) as charges_number
FROM count_start_charging
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 1;


        
        
        

+---------------+---------------+
| count_charges |           day |
+---------------+---------------+
|             2 | 1479168000000 |
|             4 | 1479254400000 |
|             2 | 1479340800000 |
|            10 | 1479427200000 |
|             7 | 1479600000000 |
|             8 | 1479686400000 |
|             6 | 1479772800000 |
|            11 | 1479859200000 |
|             5 | 1480032000000 |
|             7 | 1480118400000 |
|             6 | 1480204800000 |
|            10 | 1480291200000 |
|             3 | 1480464000000 |
|             3 | 1480550400000 |
|             7 | 1480636800000 |
|             2 | 1480723200000 |
+---------------+---------------+


        
        
        

/* Based on device data, this query returns the average of the battery temperature
 * for each OS version */
SELECT device_info['os_name'], avg(battery_temperature)
FROM "devices"."readings"
GROUP BY 1
LIMIT 100;

        
        
        
 
+---------+--------------------------+
| os_name | avg(battery_temperature) |
+---------+--------------------------+
| 4.4.4   |        90.85937893039049 |
| 5.1.0   |        90.86754559738132 |
| 6.0.1   |        90.84230101265824 |
| 5.0.0   |        90.8574802739726  |
+---------+--------------------------+

Columnar storage

CrateDB can easily accommodate hundreds of columns in a single table. It uses a columnar storage format, which is highly efficient for time series data storage. Columnar data storage allows for faster query performance, especially when aggregating data over long periods or subsets of the data.

High cardinality

CrateDB offers robust support for time partitioning. It enables data to be stored long-term without any need for aggregation or down-sampling. This is crucial because the original, un-aggregated data often contains granular details that may be lost during aggregation. By preserving this level of detail, you get enhanced flexibility to revisit historical data for new insights, or conduct precise forecasting, which is crucial to strategic decision-making processes.

With CrateDB, you can also move your old partitions to slow but cheap spinning disks, while keeping the most recent data on fast SSDs, all while retaining fast query speed for most recent data, and not loosing any details in older data.

Time series functionality

CrateDB includes built-in time-series functionality, such as window functions and time-based indexes. These features make it easier to query and analyze the data, and can improve query performance.

  • LEAD and LAG functions, with IGNORE NULLS option, to fill and extrapolate missing data.
  • DATE_BIN function to resample the data and use the same intervals on the time axis.
  • WINDOW function.
  • JOIN operator to easily combine time series data in one table and corresponding metadata in another table. This avoids pushing too much data in your application.

Much more than a time series database

CrateDB offers a much broader scope; it is built for multiple types of data and you can combine them all into the same database: time series, JSON, vector, full-text, geospatial, BLOB and relational. This way, you can easily cover most of your needs, without investing in some new costly technology that needs complex maintenance and data synchronization.

SQL interface

CrateDB is a database supporting native SQL, which is the most familiar and powerful query language for many developers. This makes it easy to query and analyze without needing to learn a new query language or tool. Getting instant analytics is very straightforward. CrateDB also provides a HTTP endpoint to submit SQL queries.

Integrations

CrateDB integrates seamlessly with popular modern data visualization tools like Grafana, or libraries like Matplotlib. It also offers compatibility with the Java- and Python-based data ecosystem and corresponding libraries and frameworks such as pandas, Dask, or Spark, to facilitate efficient analysis and visualization of time series data. 

View a sample list of integrations >

Distributed architecture

CrateDB is a distributed database that can scale horizontally across multiple nodes. This makes it an ideal fit for time series workloads, which often involve handling large volumes of data from multiple different sources (sensors, IoT gateways, CRM, ERP...) that need to be ingested, enriched and processed on the fly to serve many simultaneous data consumers in real-time.

Open source

CrateDB open source licensing model leverages the power of an active community and brings your licensing costs down. Whether you want complete peace of mind with the SaaS model or deploy the product yourself, we have the right option for you if you decide to go for a fast and scalable open source time series database.

Guide for time series data projects

Whitepaper" Guide for Time Series Data Projects

Guide for time series data projects

This comprehensive guide covers the different key aspects of time series data projects. It is divided in 3 distinct white papers. Part 1: data modeling, storage, lifecycle; Part 2: ingestion, indexing, analysis, and optimization; Part 3: visualization, and advanced analysis through machine learning.

Download now

Demo: Querying heterogeneous time-series data with SQL

Demo: Querying heterogeneous time-series data with SQL

In this video, discover how to effortlessly create a table and seamlessly import weather data into CrateDB. Witness the power of CrateDB's time-series query capabilities in action with the weather dataset, showcasing the dynamic schema flexibility. Dive deeper into CrateDB's multi-modal features with demonstrations on handling JSON, geospatial data, and conducting full-text searches.

Curious to learn more?

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Top 8 most asked questions

Top 8 Most Asked Questions around Time-series Databases

Top 8 most asked questions

Discover some of the common questions around time-series databases, including their advantages over traditional databases, best practices for managing them, and the industries that can benefit the most from their adoption. This white paper contains 8 essential things you need to know about time-series databases. 

Download now

Time series online course

Advanced Time Series Course: learn.cratedb.com

Time series online course

The free CrateDB Advanced Time Series course will teach you all you need to know about using CrateDB for time series data. Once you’ve completed this course you’ll be ready to get your certificate and tackle your first time series project with CrateDB. 

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Additional resources on time series

User stories

TGW Logistics Group is one of the leading international suppliers of material handling solutions. As systems integrator, TGW plans, produces and implements complex logistics centres, from mechatronic products and robots to control systems and software. 

Using CrateDB, TGW accelerates data aggregation and access from warehouse systems worldwide, resulting in increased database performance. The system can handle over 100,000 messages every few seconds.

"CrateDB is a highly scalable database for time series and event data with a very fast query engine using standard SQL".

Alexander Mann
Owner Connected Warehouse Architecture
TGW Logistics Group

Read more
TGW-Warehouse-2
Thomas Concrete Group is the world- leader organization in the construction industry with 150+ concrete plants and 2,100+ employees. They use CrateDB both for tracking of their delivery trucks and tracking the curing of the concrete in real-time.

"Thanks to CrateDB's great indexing, dedicated data types, and subsequent great performance, we could execute an event and data-driven architecture, with the performance and scalability necessary for storing time-series data over time. The SQL query syntax capability of CrateDB also played a part in achieving this great outcome, as it made it easy for the team to write good performing queries using existing know-how. CrateDB is now an integral part of our big data streaming architecture and it is delivering as promised."

Kristoffer Axelsson
Principal Solution Architect
Thomas Concrete Group

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Thomas
Digital domain is a global leader in visual effects, interactive content and creating “virtual humans” for use in films and live events. Rather than use a commercial monitoring system, they chose to build their own performance monitoring solution. They use CrateDB to process a lot of system metrics data (time series) in real time and to support streaming log analytics, which required search capability.

"I'm glad it's SQL behind those charts. If I had to use Elasticsearch to answer new questions, we wouldn't be nearly as responsive to new requirements."

 

Joe Hacobian
Infrastructure Engineer
Digital Domain

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Digital-domain

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Documentation and tutorials

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FAQ

Time-series data is a sequence of data points organized chronologically, illustrating how variables change over time. This format is characterized by patterns such as trends, seasonal variations, and irregularities. Effective time-series data management can significantly enhance query performance and data analysis. CrateDB supports time-series data with built-in functionalities like window functions and time-based indexes, making it easier to analyze and query the data efficiently.

Examples of time series data include temperature readings, stock prices, population growth, monthly subscriptions, quarterly sales, and interest rates. CrateDB supports time series data and offers a comprehensive solution by allowing the integration of multiple data types such as JSON, vector, full-text, geospatial, BLOB, and relational data, minimizing the need for additional technologies and complex maintenance.

Efficient storage of time series data is essential, considering factors like data volume, speed, query requirements, and scalability. The primary storage solutions include time-series databases, NoSQL databases, relational databases, and data warehouses, each offering unique strengths and limitations. CrateDB is designed to handle complex time series data with the simplicity of SQL, allowing for high ingest rates and integration of various data types, making it an ideal choice for storing and querying extensive time series data efficiently. Read more about time series data storage >

When choosing a time-series database, consider factors such as performance, scalability, query language capabilities, data model flexibility, security, maintainability, and reliability. Examples of time-series databases include CrateDB, InfluxDB, KX, and Timescale. CrateDB stands out as a distributed database that can scale horizontally across multiple nodes, making it especially suited for handling large volumes of time-series data from diverse sources in real-time. Learn how to choose the best database for time series data >

Time-series data analysis allows us to analyze and understand how variables change over time. It is widely used across various industries, such as manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and the energy sector. Regardless of the industry, time-series data is crucial for enabling data-driven decision-making. With CrateDB, you can easily enrich your time series data with other data types, handle high ingest rates, and store years of history. Read how TGW Logistics Group uses CrateDB as their modern time series database >

101 for Time-Series databases

  • What is a time series database?
  • Key criteria for selecting a time series database.