This is an educational relational database engine used in Carnegie Mellon University's database systems course. Students learn internals by implementing core components of a working database, including storage, indexing, concurrency control, and crash recovery.
The system covers key database architecture: a B+ tree index for fast key-based lookups and range scans, a disk-oriented buffer pool that caches pages from disk, an iterator-based query execution model that composes physical operators, page-based storage for records, two-phase locking for coordinating concurrent transactions, and write-ahead logging to ensure durability and recoverability after failures.
It also provides an interactive SQL shell for executing queries against a relational schema, concurrent transaction management with ACID guarantees, and crash recovery via logging and checkpoint techniques—giving students a complete hands-on environment for building and experimenting with database internals.
