Welcome to Caché, the post-relational database.
This introduction provides an overview of the major components and technologies that make up Caché. These components include:
Please read the rest of this document to learn more about Caché. You may also find that the Caché Technology Guide provides a good overview of the features and architecture of Caché. For more details on a specific topic, refer to one of the other books available from the online documentation home page. In addition, Caché includes a number of online tutorials on various development and system administration topics.
A Unique Architecture
Caché derives much of its power from its unique architecture. At the core, the Caché Database Engine provides the complete set of services—including data storage, concurrency management, transactions, and process management—needed to build complex database management systems. You can think of the Caché engine as a powerful database toolkit. Using this toolkit, Caché implements a complete object and relational database management system.
What Do You Mean Post-Relational?
Caché is designed to transcend the limitations of the relational model while providing an evolutionary upgrade path for the thousands of existing relational database applications as well as support for the many SQL-based reporting tools on the market.
The “relational” part of “post-relational” refers to the fact that Caché is a full-featured relational database. All the data within a Caché database is available as true relational tables and can be queried and modified using standard SQL via ODBC, JDBC, or object methods. Because of the power of the underlying Caché database engine, we believe that Caché is the fastest, most reliable, and most scalable relational database available today.
The “post” part of “post-relational” refers to the fact that Caché offers a range of features that go beyond the limits of relational databases, while still supporting a standard relational view of data. These features include:
While most databases with both object and relational access provide one form of access on top of the other, the SQL and object aspects of Caché both go directly to the data—this dual, direct access gives Caché its post-relational power.
Caché in Action
Caché is used around the world for a wide variety of applications ranging from single-user embedded systems to enterprise-wide multi-server installations with tens of thousands of concurrent users.
A small sample of applications built with Caché includes:
Contacting InterSystems
For support questions about any InterSystems products, please contact the InterSystems Worldwide Support Center: