Alibaba Cloud’s PolarDB Breaks TPC-C Record
- By Paul Mah
- March 12, 2025
Alibaba Cloud’s PolarDB has achieved 2.055 billion transactions per minute (tpmC) in the TPC-C benchmark, putting it 2.5 times higher than the previous record holder. Other records over the years were achieved by database systems from tech giants such as Oracle, IBM, and Tencent.
Created by the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC), the TPC-C benchmark is recognized as one of the top OLTP benchmarks in the industry. It was designed to assess a database's performance under extreme conditions by challenging database systems to maintain data accuracy, guarantee data consistency during software and hardware failure, and ensure data availability, consistency, and integrity.
Breakthrough database performance
On its part, PolarDB is a cloud-native relational database designed for business-critical applications that require performance, concurrency, and automatic scaling. It is currently used by over 10,000 enterprise customers globally, according to Alibaba Cloud.
PolarDB successfully processed 2.2 trillion data operations with 100% data accuracy over the 8-hour stress test, maintaining a tpmC fluctuation rate of just 0.16%. This is an order of magnitude lower than the TPC-C benchmark requirement of 2%. Crucially, PolarDB reduced the cost per transaction (price/tpmC) by almost 40% to CNY 0.8 (USD 0.11). This is significantly cheaper than any other system on the list.
The breakthrough was credited by Alibaba Cloud to its three-layer design, which it says enhances efficiency by enabling the independent scaling of computing, memory, and storage for optimal elasticity. Software integration and advanced database kernel optimization also made a difference. The latter included improvements to transaction processing, index structure refinements, and I/O path enhancements.
“This remarkable achievement is a testament to our team’s relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence in database technology,” said Dr Feifei Li, the president of Database Products Business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.
“PolarDB's performance in the TPC-C benchmark showcases its capability to handle the most demanding workloads while emphasizing our commitment to providing cost-effective and scalable solutions. With innovative architecture, managing cloud-native databases will be as simple as ‘building blocks’. We will continue to support our customers to effectively manage and utilize data to thrive in the digital era.”
Image credit: iStock/Chor muang
Paul Mah
Paul Mah is the editor of DSAITrends, where he report on the latest developments in data science and AI. A former system administrator, programmer, and IT lecturer, he enjoys writing both code and prose.