FastDB is a highly efficient main memory database system with realtime capabilities and convenient C++ interface. FastDB doesn't support a client-server architecture and all applications using a FastDB database should run at the same host. FastDB is optimized for applications with dominated read access pattern. High speed of query execution is provided by the elimination of data transfer overhead and a very effective locking implementation. The Database file is mapped to the virtual memory space of each application working with the database. So the query is executed in the context of the application, requiring no context switching and data transfer. Synchronization of concurrent database access is implemented in FastDB by means of atomic instructions, adding almost no overhead to query processing. FastDB assumes that the whole database is present in RAM and optimizes the search algorithms and structures according to this assumption. Moreover, FastDB has no overhead caused by database buffer management and needs no data transfer between a database file and buffer pool. That is why FastDB will work significantly faster than a traditional database with all data cached in buffers pool.
FastDB supports transactions, online backup and automatic recovery after system crash. The transaction commit protocol is based on a shadow root pages algorithm, performing atomic update of the database. Recovery can be done very fast, providing high availability for critical applications. Moreover, the elimination of transaction logs improves the total system performance and leads to a more effective usage of system resources.

FastDB is an application-oriented database. Database tables are constructed using information about application classes. FastDB supports automatic scheme evaluation, allowing you to do changes only in one place - in your application classes. FastDB provides a flexible and convenient interface for retrieving data from the database. A SQL-like query language is used to specify queries. Such post-relational capabilities as non-atomic fields, nested arrays, user-defined types and methods, direct interobject references simplifies the design of database applications and makes them more efficient.

Although FastDB is optimized in the assumption that database as a whole fits into the physical memory of the computer, it is also possible to use it with databases, the size of which exceeds the size of the physical memory in the system. In the last case, standard operating system swapping mechanisms will work. But all FastDB search algorithms and structures are optimized under the assumption of residence of all data in memory, so the efficiency for swapped out data will not be very high.