Interested in In-Memory Database Reporting?
There are many advantages that in-memory database reporting has over relying on disk memory.
With disk memory, slow query responses often place a burden on the IT department to increase performance speed. If IT fails to provide this improvement, users will often change their approach and stop asking complicated questions of their data. This is one of the reasons why BI is all too often left to the experts; regular users don't have time to spend hours answering business questions.
When data is stored in RAM, queries can be answered at a much faster rate. The speed-of-thought response time on complex queries encourage users to ask more questions and create more ad-hoc reports.
In-memory architecture is constructed by extracting a large amount of data from a data warehouse or other data source and loading that data into memory. The user only interacts with cached data, not the actual data source.
The disadvantage of working in-memory is that you are limited in how much cached data you can store. And having only one kind or a certain amount of data available in RAM can limit the flexibility necessary to make ad hoc reports.
So using a purely in-memory BI solution means your reporting and analytics capabilities are limited by the size of memory in the BI server.
InetSoft's BI Combines the Best of Both Worlds
InetSoft's unique combination of these two options provides the speed of in-memory database reporting, while still allowing an unlimited size and volume of data sources to be used. Timeliness of data required, as well as system capabilities and performance requirements all vary, and InetSoft's solution is agile enough to meet a large variety of different demands.
While the software can access data in real time from a variety of sources, it also features a cutting edge data grid cache. This feature automatically uploads and stores whatever data is needed for reporting, including any data that may be needed for applying drilldown, filters, and any other interactive features. The data grid cache loads compressed indexes in a Hadoop like architecture, storing data in a columnar format. If enough system memory is available, the entire measure column will be loaded, but this is not necessary. This flexibility enables interactive features to be utilized with much greater speed.
InetSoft's data grid caching solution suffers from no limits on data volume or size, and can scale up as performance, usage concurrency, and database size grow.
How a Zeolite Mining Company Uses InetSoft's Data Grid Caching Solution
Zeolite mining is a highly specialized industry where efficiency and precision are critical due to the complex extraction and processing requirements of these microporous minerals. A zeolite mining company generates large volumes of operational data, from sensor readings on extraction equipment to quality metrics from processing plants. Traditionally, accessing and analyzing this data required significant processing time, especially when querying multiple databases or performing historical comparisons. By adopting InetSoft’s data grid caching solution, the company was able to dramatically improve the performance of its analytics environment, providing near-instant access to key metrics without overloading the underlying systems.
The data grid caching solution allows the mining company to store frequently accessed datasets in-memory, enabling rapid query responses for dashboards, reports, and ad hoc analyses. This was particularly useful for operations managers who needed real-time visibility into mineral yields, machinery performance, and processing efficiency across multiple sites. With InetSoft caching, queries that previously took minutes could now be executed in seconds, allowing for faster decision-making and more responsive adjustments to extraction rates, equipment scheduling, and resource allocation. The improvement in speed also enhanced user adoption of the analytics platform, as employees could rely on consistently responsive dashboards.
Beyond operational efficiency, InetSoft’s caching solution also supports scalability and multi-user performance. As multiple teams—including engineering, quality control, and management—access the same datasets simultaneously, the cache ensures that performance remains high without duplicating queries to production systems. This reduces strain on operational databases and minimizes latency, enabling the company to maintain real-time monitoring even during peak analysis periods. Overall, leveraging InetSoft’s data grid caching allowed the zeolite mining company to transform raw operational data into actionable insights more efficiently, supporting better strategic planning, operational agility, and a more competitive position in a niche but technically demanding industry.
