Database Benchmarking for the Real-World (with Cockroach Labs CEO & Co-Founder Spencer Kimball)

Description

Traditional database benchmarks focus heavily on throughput and latency–measuring ideal conditions, not operational reality. In this webinar, we’ll challenge outdated assumptions and unveil the Performance under Adversity benchmark: a new, failure-forward standard built to measure how databases behave when things break. You'll learn why resilience–not just raw speed–is the new baseline for modern databases. We’ll stress-test CockroachDB live under simulated outages, from single-node failures to full region loss, so you can see exactly what it takes to stay online when it matters most. In this session you can expect to learn: • Why traditional benchmarks set you up for failure • How the Performance Under Adversity benchmark reframes database evaluation and what it reveals about real-world failure patterns • A scenario-by-scenario break down of failure conditions and what they actually test • Why Distributed SQL isn’t just scalable, it's survivable • What our stress tests of CockroachDB taught us about staying online and building for continuity, not just capacity