From the outset Kdb+ was specifically designed and optimised for multi-core capability, and can handle all machines available on the market. The soon to be released v.2.5 benefits from even faster multi-threading as well as a number of other significant enhancements including DTrace support, optimised intelligent memory allocation, and a number of new interfaces. Now available to customers for final testing and evaluation, v.2.5 will be noticeably faster for queries, especially on large databases.

Support for DTrace, a powerful infrastructure for analysing the allocation and usage of resources on large servers running Solaris, is now available in Kdb+. Some of Kx's largest clients, including many tier 1 banks, now see support for DTrace as non-negotiable in their core infrastructure products and critical services such as Kdb+.

Kx recognises that institutions are facing growing pressures on their resources. A number of enhancements in v.2.5 have been made to help financial institutions address some of those issues. DTrace allows very detailed (low level) monitoring which does not modify code and helps to track down bottlenecks. More efficient threading means that large partitioned databases will be considerably faster. In addition existing interfaces to Java, C#, C, C++ and Excel have been enhanced, while interfaces to R and F# have been added.

"Intel is focused on the massive compute workloads across the trading lifecycle - from market data, through analytics and risk to trade routing," said Nigel Woodward, Intel Global Financial Services Director. "Throughput and low-latency at every stage are critical, which is why Intel works closely with Kx so that Kx's software structure and Intel's parallel processor infrastructure combine to provide a competitive advantage to our mutual clients."

Says Simon Garland, chief strategist at Kx, "Our customers expect Kx to be the fastest. To achieve this we constantly work on optimisation and ensure that Kdb+ is able to make use of the latest developments in technology. We are also very conscious of the need to be good citizens when using resources: where several years ago a vendor might have expected to have exclusive use of a machine that is no longer the case. The new version of Kdb+ has been further optimised to allow our clients to get the most out of their new hardware."