A Non-intrusive Multi-tenant Database Software for Large Scale SaaS Application

Abstract

Multi-tenant is a key characteristic for cost effective Software as a Service (SaaS) applications which drive down total cost of ownership for both service consumers and providers. This paper describes our research in designing & building a cost-effective, secure, customizable, scalable and non-intrusive multi-tenant database which greatly accelerates the migration and development of SaaS applications. We analyze the requirements and gaps in traditional database when supporting SaaS scenario, and then propose a novel nonintrusive multi-tenant database framework to address these challenges. Some key considerations and different implementation approaches in designing and implementation such a framework are discussed and compared. This paper also identifies some potential database performance optimization approaches in the multi-tenant scenario.