NDB Cluster has a range of unique attributes that make it ideal to serve applications requiring high availability, fast failover, high throughput, and low latency. Due to its distributed architecture and multi-node implementation, NDB Cluster also has specific constraints that may keep some workloads from performing well. A number of major differences in behavior between the NDB and InnoDB storage engines with regard to some common types of database-driven application workloads are shown in the following table::
Table 23.3 Differences between InnoDB and NDB storage engines, common types of data-driven application workloads.
| Workload | InnoDB | NDB Cluster (NDB) |
|---|---|---|
| High-Volume OLTP Applications | Yes | Yes |
| DSS Applications (data marts, analytics) | Yes | Limited (Join operations across OLTP datasets not exceeding 3TB in size) |
| Custom Applications | Yes | Yes |
| Packaged Applications | Yes | Limited (should be mostly primary key access); NDB Cluster 8.0 supports foreign keys |
| In-Network Telecoms Applications (HLR, HSS, SDP) | No | Yes |
| Session Management and Caching | Yes | Yes |
| E-Commerce Applications | Yes | Yes |
| User Profile Management, AAA Protocol | Yes | Yes |