vs

HPE NonStop SQL vs Volt Active Data (VoltDB)

HPE NonStop SQL: Fault-tolerant, shared-nothing SQL on HPE NonStop, built for payment switches that can never go down. Volt Active Data (VoltDB): In-memory, partitioned SQL engine running Java stored procedures serially for millisecond decisioning.

key differences

  • HPE NonStop SQL is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Volt Active Data (VoltDB) (≤ 10 TB).
  • Only HPE NonStop SQL has triggers, encryption at rest.
  • Only Volt Active Data (VoltDB) has geospatial, json, change data capture, materialized views, ttl / expiry.

choose hpe-nonstop-sql for

  • +ATM and card-payment authorisation switches
  • +Stock exchange order matching and settlement
  • +Telecom home-location and subscriber registers

best at · OLTP

choose volt-active-data for

  • +Telecom online charging and policy control
  • +Real-time fraud and risk decisions
  • +Ad bidding and personalization at high TPS
  • +Gaming leaderboards and in-game economies

best at · OLTP, Real-time analytics, Streaming

overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
–
Document, Spatial
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Volt Active Data, Inc.
First release
1987
2010
Latest version
–
16.0.0 (Sep 30, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary commercial license
ProprietaryProprietary (commercial)
Free tier
—
—
popularity
WhichDB Score
4.3
20.7
Rank
#412
#154
GitHub stars
–
–
Stack Overflow questions
–
153
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Active active
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Client server
Distributed, In memory, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
–
AWS, Google Cloud
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
✓
✓
Secondary indexes
✓
✓
Full-text search
—
—
Vector search
—
—
Geospatial
—
✓
JSON
—
✓
Change data capture
—
✓
Triggers
✓
—
Stored procedures
✓
✓
Materialized views
—
✓
TTL / expiry
—
✓
Pub/Sub
—
✓
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
—
✓
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
—
—
Encryption at rest
✓
—
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
✓
✓
Streaming ingest
—
✓
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
SQL
SQL, Java (stored procedures)
Client languages
C, COBOL, Java, C++
Java, Python, C++, Go, C#, JavaScript
Best for
OLTP
OLTP, Real-time analytics, Streaming, Tick data

HPE NonStop SQL vs Volt Active Data (VoltDB): FAQ

What is the difference between HPE NonStop SQL and Volt Active Data (VoltDB)?

HPE NonStop SQL: Fault-tolerant, shared-nothing SQL on HPE NonStop, built for payment switches that can never go down. Volt Active Data (VoltDB): In-memory, partitioned SQL engine running Java stored procedures serially for millisecond decisioning. HPE NonStop SQL is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Volt Active Data (VoltDB) (≤ 10 TB). Only HPE NonStop SQL has triggers, encryption at rest. Only Volt Active Data (VoltDB) has geospatial, json, change data capture, materialized views, ttl / expiry.

When should I choose HPE NonStop SQL over Volt Active Data (VoltDB)?

Choose HPE NonStop SQL for ATM and card-payment authorisation switches; stock exchange order matching and settlement; and telecom home-location and subscriber registers. Choose Volt Active Data (VoltDB) for telecom online charging and policy control; real-time fraud and risk decisions; and ad bidding and personalization at high TPS.

Is HPE NonStop SQL or Volt Active Data (VoltDB) more popular?

Volt Active Data (VoltDB) ranks #154 on the WhichDB Score (20.7/100) and HPE NonStop SQL ranks #412 (4.3/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are HPE NonStop SQL and Volt Active Data (VoltDB) open source?

No. HPE NonStop SQL is proprietary, closed-source software. No. Volt Active Data (VoltDB) is proprietary, closed-source software.