Towards an Elastic and Autonomic Multitenant Database

The success of cloud computing as a platform for deploying webapplications has led to a deluge of applications characterized by small data footprints with unpredictable access patterns. A scalable multitenant database management system (DBMS) is therefore an important component of the software stack for platforms supporting these applications. Elastic load balancing and efficient database migration techniques are key requirements for effective resource utilization and operational cost minimization. Our vision is a DBMS where multitenancy is viewed as virtualization in the database layer, and elasticity is a first class notion with the same stature as scalability, availability etc. We analyze the various models of database multitenancy, formalize the forms of migration, and identify the design space and research goals for an autonomic and elastic multitenant database.