tsink

A high-performance embedded time-series database for Rust

Overview

tsink is a lightweight, high-performance time-series database engine written in Rust. It provides efficient storage and retrieval of time-series data with automatic compression, time-based partitioning, and thread-safe operations.

Key Features

• 🚀 High Performance: Gorilla compression achieves ~1.37 bytes per data point
• 🔒 Thread-Safe: Lock-free reads and concurrent writes with configurable worker pools
• 💾 Flexible Storage: Choose between in-memory or persistent disk storage
• 📊 Time Partitioning: Automatic data organization by configurable time ranges
• 🏷️ Label Support: Multi-dimensional metrics with key-value labels
• 📝 WAL Support: Write-ahead logging for durability and crash recovery
• 🗑️ Auto-Retention: Configurable automatic data expiration
• 🐳 Container-Aware: cgroup support for optimal resource usage in containers
• ⚡ Zero-Copy Reads: Memory-mapped files for efficient disk operations

Installation

Add tsink to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
tsink = "0.3.1"

Quick Start

Basic Usage

use tsink::{DataPoint, Row, StorageBuilder, Storage, TimestampPrecision};

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    // Create storage with default settings
    let storage = StorageBuilder::new()
        .with_timestamp_precision(TimestampPrecision::Seconds)
        .build()?;

    // Insert data points
    let rows = vec![
        Row::new("cpu_usage", DataPoint::new(1600000000, 45.5)),
        Row::new("cpu_usage", DataPoint::new(1600000060, 47.2)),
        Row::new("cpu_usage", DataPoint::new(1600000120, 46.8)),
    ];
    storage.insert_rows(&rows)?;

    // Note: Using timestamp 0 will automatically use the current timestamp
    // let row = Row::new("cpu_usage", DataPoint::new(0, 50.0));  // timestamp = current time

    // Query data points
    let points = storage.select("cpu_usage", &[], 1600000000, 1600000121)?;
    for point in points {
        println!("Timestamp: {}, Value: {}", point.timestamp, point.value);
    }

    storage.close()?;
    Ok(())
}

Persistent Storage

use tsink::{StorageBuilder, Storage};
use std::time::Duration;

let storage = StorageBuilder::new()
    .with_data_path("./tsink-data")              // Enable disk persistence
    .with_partition_duration(Duration::from_secs(3600))  // 1-hour partitions
    .with_retention(Duration::from_secs(7 * 24 * 3600))  // 7-day retention
    .with_wal_buffer_size(8192)                  // 8KB WAL buffer
    .build()?;

Multi-Dimensional Metrics with Labels

use tsink::{DataPoint, Label, Row};

// Create metrics with labels for detailed categorization
let rows = vec![
    Row::with_labels(
        "http_requests",
        vec![
            Label::new("method", "GET"),
            Label::new("status", "200"),
            Label::new("endpoint", "/api/users"),
        ],
        DataPoint::new(1600000000, 150.0),
    ),
    Row::with_labels(
        "http_requests",
        vec![
            Label::new("method", "POST"),
            Label::new("status", "201"),
            Label::new("endpoint", "/api/users"),
        ],
        DataPoint::new(1600000000, 25.0),
    ),
];

storage.insert_rows(&rows)?;

// Query specific label combinations
let points = storage.select(
    "http_requests",
    &[
        Label::new("method", "GET"),
        Label::new("status", "200"),
    ],
    1600000000,
    1600000100,
)?;

// Query all label combinations for a metric
let all_results = storage.select_all("http_requests", 1600000000, 1600000100)?;
for (labels, points) in all_results {
    println!("Labels: {:?}, Points: {}", labels, points.len());
}

Architecture

tsink uses a linear-order partition model that divides time-series data into time-bounded chunks:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│             tsink Storage               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                         │
│  ┌───────────────┐  Active Partition    │
│  │ Memory Part.  │◄─ (Writable)         │
│  └───────────────┘                      │
│                                         │
│  ┌───────────────┐  Buffer Partition    │
│  │ Memory Part.  │◄─ (Out-of-order)     │
│  └───────────────┘                      │
│                                         │
│  ┌───────────────┐                      │
│  │ Disk Part. 1  │◄─ Read-only          │
│  └───────────────┘   (Memory-mapped)    │
│                                         │
│  ┌───────────────┐                      │
│  │ Disk Part. 2  │◄─ Read-only          │
│  └───────────────┘                      │
│         ...                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Partition Lifecycle

1. Active Partition: Accepts new writes, kept in memory
2. Buffer Partition: Handles out-of-order writes within recent time window
3. Flushing: When active partition is full, it's flushed to disk
4. Disk Partitions: Read-only, memory-mapped for efficient queries
5. Expiration: Old partitions are automatically removed based on retention

Benefits

• Fast Queries: Skip irrelevant partitions based on time range
• Efficient Memory: Only recent data stays in RAM
• Low Write Amplification: Sequential writes, no compaction needed
• SSD-Friendly: Minimal random I/O patterns

Configuration

StorageBuilder Options

Example Configuration

let storage = StorageBuilder::new()
    .with_data_path("/var/lib/tsink")
    .with_retention(Duration::from_secs(30 * 24 * 3600))  // 30 days
    .with_timestamp_precision(TimestampPrecision::Milliseconds)
    .with_max_writers(16)
    .with_write_timeout(Duration::from_secs(60))
    .with_partition_duration(Duration::from_secs(6 * 3600))  // 6 hours
    .with_wal_buffer_size(16384)  // 16KB
    .build()?;

Compression

tsink uses the Gorilla compression algorithm, which is specifically designed for time-series data:

• Delta-of-delta encoding for timestamps
• XOR compression for floating-point values
• Typical compression ratio: ~1.37 bytes per data point

This means a data point that would normally take 16 bytes (8 bytes timestamp + 8 bytes value) is compressed to less than 2 bytes on average.

Performance

Benchmarks on AMD Ryzen 7940HS (single core):

Run benchmarks yourself:

cargo bench

Module Overview

Core Modules

Infrastructure Modules

Utility Modules

Advanced Usage

Label Querying

tsink provides querying capabilities for metrics with labels:

use tsink::{DataPoint, Label, Row};

// Insert metrics with various label combinations
let rows = vec![
    Row::with_labels(
        "cpu_usage",
        vec![Label::new("host", "server1"), Label::new("region", "us-west")],
        DataPoint::new(1600000000, 45.5),
    ),
    Row::with_labels(
        "cpu_usage",
        vec![Label::new("host", "server2"), Label::new("region", "us-east")],
        DataPoint::new(1600000000, 52.1),
    ),
    Row::with_labels(
        "cpu_usage",
        vec![Label::new("host", "server3")],  // Different label set
        DataPoint::new(1600000000, 48.3),
    ),
];
storage.insert_rows(&rows)?;

// Method 1: Query with exact label match
let points = storage.select(
    "cpu_usage",
    &[Label::new("host", "server1"), Label::new("region", "us-west")],
    1600000000,
    1600000100,
)?;

// Method 2: Query all label combinations (discovers all variations)
let all_results = storage.select_all("cpu_usage", 1600000000, 1600000100)?;

// Process results grouped by labels
for (labels, points) in all_results {
    // Find which hosts have the most data points
    if let Some(host_label) = labels.iter().find(|l| l.name == "host") {
        println!("Host {} has {} data points", host_label.value, points.len());
    }

    // Aggregate metrics across regions
    if let Some(region_label) = labels.iter().find(|l| l.name == "region") {
        let avg: f64 = points.iter().map(|p| p.value).sum::<f64>() / points.len() as f64;
        println!("Region {} average: {:.2}", region_label.value, avg);
    }
}

Concurrent Operations

tsink is designed for high-concurrency scenarios:

use std::thread;
use std::sync::Arc;

let storage = Arc::new(StorageBuilder::new().build()?);

// Spawn multiple writer threads
let mut handles = vec![];
for worker_id in 0..10 {
    let storage = storage.clone();
    let handle = thread::spawn(move || {
        for i in 0..1000 {
            let row = Row::new(
                "concurrent_metric",
                DataPoint::new(1600000000 + i, i as f64),
            );
            storage.insert_rows(&[row]).unwrap();
        }
    });
    handles.push(handle);
}

// Wait for all threads
for handle in handles {
    handle.join().unwrap();
}

Out-of-Order Insertion

tsink handles out-of-order data points automatically:

// Insert data points in random order
let rows = vec![
    Row::new("metric", DataPoint::new(1600000500, 5.0)),
    Row::new("metric", DataPoint::new(1600000100, 1.0)),  // Earlier timestamp
    Row::new("metric", DataPoint::new(1600000300, 3.0)),
    Row::new("metric", DataPoint::new(1600000200, 2.0)),  // Out of order
];

storage.insert_rows(&rows)?;

// Query returns points in correct chronological order
let points = storage.select("metric", &[], 1600000000, 1600001000)?;
assert!(points.windows(2).all(|w| w[0].timestamp <= w[1].timestamp));

Container Deployment

tsink automatically detects container resource limits:

// tsink reads cgroup limits automatically
let storage = StorageBuilder::new()
    .with_max_writers(0)  // 0 = auto-detect from cgroup
    .build()?;

// In a container with 2 CPU limit, this will use 2 workers
// even if the host has 16 CPUs

WAL Recovery

After a crash, tsink automatically recovers from WAL:

// First run - data is written to WAL
let storage = StorageBuilder::new()
    .with_data_path("/data/tsink")
    .build()?;
storage.insert_rows(&rows)?;
// Crash happens here...

// Next run - data is recovered from WAL automatically
let storage = StorageBuilder::new()
    .with_data_path("/data/tsink")  // Same path
    .build()?;  // Recovery happens here

// Previously inserted data is available
let points = storage.select("metric", &[], 0, i64::MAX)?;

Examples

Run the comprehensive example showcasing all features:

cargo run --example comprehensive

Other examples:

• basic_usage - Simple insert and query operations
• persistent_storage - Disk-based storage with WAL
• production_example - Production-ready configuration

Testing

Run the test suite:

# Run all tests
cargo test

# Run with verbose output
cargo test -- --nocapture

# Run specific test module
cargo test storage::tests

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/h2337/tsink.git
cd tsink

# Run tests
cargo test

# Run benchmarks
cargo bench

# Check formatting
cargo fmt -- --check

# Run clippy
cargo clippy -- -D warnings

License

• MIT License