Neo Technology recently announced the release of Neo4j 3.1, a significant release that features notable enhancements to Neo4j’s clustering architecture that enhance the scalability and performance of the Neo4j graph database platform. Importantly, Neo4j 3.1 introduces causal clustering to its database platform, which brings causal consistency to Neo4j in contrast to the eventual consistency paradigm that characterizes most contemporary NoSQL database platforms. Stronger than causal consistency, Neo4j 3.1’s causal consistency ensures that all nodes within a graph database are consistently updated, thereby empowering organizations to deliver updated and consistent data to end users as a result of their interactions with the database. Neo4j’s VP of Products Philip Rathle remarked on the significance of the introduction of causal consistency to the Neo4j platform as follows:
The introduction of Causal Clustering in Neo4j 3.1, combined with Neo4j’s new security foundation, delivers a scalable, reliable, and secure enterprise graph platform like no other on the market. Neo4j 3.1 will enable organizations to leverage the connections in their data for operational decision making while complying with their internal and external security mandates.
The causal clustering specific to Neo4j 3.1 means that the graph travels as one ACID-transaction that ensures the consistency of the graph. Unique within the NoSQL and graph database space, Neo4j 3.1’s causal consistency delivers consistent data for applications, thereby facilitating the achievement of higher degrees of compliance across the enterprise in contrast to applications that rely on eventual consistency. Neo4j 3.1 also features enhanced security and access management functionality in the form of support for Active Directory/LDAP authentication and enhanced role-based access control. Nevertheless, the core innovation of Neo4j 3.1 is represented by its causal clustering architecture that augments its ability to serve the needs of graph-based applications for enterprise customers at scale. Currently in Beta, Neo4j 3.1 is expected to become generally available in Q4 of 2016.
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