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Version: 3.0

Deploy and use shared-data StarRocks

This topic describes how to deploy and use a shared-data StarRocks cluster.

The shared-data StarRocks cluster is specifically engineered for the cloud on the premise of separation of storage and compute. It allows data to be stored in object storage that is compatible with the S3 protocol (for example, AWS S3 and MinIO). You can achieve not only cheaper storage and better resource isolation, but elastic scalability for your cluster. The query performance of the shared-data StarRocks cluster aligns with that of a shared-nothing StarRocks cluster when the local disk cache is hit.

Compared to the classic StarRocks architecture, separation of storage and compute offers a wide range of benefits. By decoupling these components, StarRocks provides:

  • Inexpensive and seamlessly scalable storage.
  • Elastic scalable compute. Because data is no longer stored in BE nodes, scaling can be done without data migration or shuffling across nodes.
  • Local disk cache for hot data to boost query performance.
  • Adjustable time-to-live (TTL) for cached hot data. StarRocks automatically removes the expired cached data to save the local disk space.
  • Asynchronous data ingestion into object storage, allowing a significant improvement in loading performance.

The architecture of the shared-data StarRocks cluster is as follows:

Shared-data Architecture

This feature is supported from v3.0.

Deploy a shared-data StarRocks cluster​

The deployment of a shared-data StarRocks cluster is similar to that of a shared-nothing StarRocks cluster. The only difference is the parameters in the configuration files of FE and BE fe.conf and be.conf. This section only lists the FE and BE configuration items you need to add to the configuration files when you deploy a shared-data StarRocks cluster. For detailed instructions on deploying a shared-nothing StarRocks cluster, see Deploy StarRocks.

Configure FE nodes for shared-data StarRocks​

Before starting FEs, add the following configuration items in the FE configuration file fe.conf:

Configuration itemDescription
run_modeThe running mode of the StarRocks cluster. Valid values: shared_data and shared_nothing (Default).
shared_data indicates running StarRocks in shared-data mode. shared_nothing indicates running StarRocks in shared-nothing mode.
CAUTION
You cannot adopt the shared_data and shared_nothing modes simultaneously for a StarRocks cluster. Mixed deployment is not supported.
DO NOT change run_mode after the cluster is deployed. Otherwise, the cluster fails to restart. The transformation from a shared-nothing cluster to a shared-data cluster or vice versa is not supported.
cloud_native_meta_portThe cloud-native meta service RPC port. Default: 6090.
cloud_native_storage_typeThe type of object storage you use. Valid value: S3 (Default).
aws_s3_pathThe S3 path used to store data. It consists of the name of your S3 bucket and the sub-path (if any) under it, for example, testbucket/subpath.
aws_s3_endpointThe endpoint used to access your S3 bucket, for example, https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com.
aws_s3_regionThe region in which your S3 bucket resides, for example, us-west-2.
aws_s3_use_aws_sdk_default_behaviorWhether to use the default authentication credential of AWS SDK. Valid values: true and false (Default).
aws_s3_use_instance_profileWhether to use Instance Profile and Assumed Role as credential methods for accessing S3. Valid values: true and false (Default).
  • If you use IAM user-based credential (Access Key and Secret Key) to access S3, you must specify this item as false, and specify aws_s3_access_key and aws_s3_secret_key.
  • If you use Instance Profile to access S3, you must specify this item as true.
  • If you use Assumed Role to access S3, you must specify this item as true, and specify aws_s3_iam_role_arn.
  • And if you use an external AWS account, you must also specify aws_s3_external_id.
aws_s3_access_keyThe Access Key ID used to access your S3 bucket.
aws_s3_secret_keyThe Secret Access Key used to access your S3 bucket.
aws_s3_iam_role_arnThe ARN of the IAM role that has privileges on your S3 bucket in which your data files are stored.
aws_s3_external_idThe external ID of the AWS account that is used for cross-account access to your S3 bucket.

  • If you use AWS S3

    • If you use the default authentication credential of AWS SDK to access S3, add the following configuration items:

      run_mode = shared_data
      cloud_native_meta_port = <meta_port>
      cloud_native_storage_type = S3

      # For example, testbucket/subpath
      aws_s3_path = <s3_path>

      # For example, us-west-2
      aws_s3_region = <region>

      # For example, https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
      aws_s3_endpoint = <endpoint_url>

      aws_s3_use_aws_sdk_default_behavior = true

    • If you use IAM user-based credential (Access Key and Secret Key) to access S3, add the following configuration items:

      run_mode = shared_data
      cloud_native_meta_port = <meta_port>
      cloud_native_storage_type = S3

      # For example, testbucket/subpath
      aws_s3_path = <s3_path>

      # For example, us-west-2
      aws_s3_region = <region>

      # For example, https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
      aws_s3_endpoint = <endpoint_url>

      aws_s3_access_key = <access_key>
      aws_s3_secret_key = <secret_key>

    • If you use Instance Profile to access S3, add the following configuration items:

      run_mode = shared_data
      cloud_native_meta_port = <meta_port>
      cloud_native_storage_type = S3

      # For example, testbucket/subpath
      aws_s3_path = <s3_path>

      # For example, us-west-2
      aws_s3_region = <region>

      # For example, https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
      aws_s3_endpoint = <endpoint_url>

      aws_s3_use_instance_profile = true

    • If you use Assumed Role to access S3, add the following configuration items:

      run_mode = shared_data
      cloud_native_meta_port = <meta_port>
      cloud_native_storage_type = S3

      # For example, testbucket/subpath
      aws_s3_path = <s3_path>

      # For example, us-west-2
      aws_s3_region = <region>

      # For example, https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
      aws_s3_endpoint = <endpoint_url>

      aws_s3_use_instance_profile = true
      aws_s3_iam_role_arn = <role_arn>

    • If you use Assumed Role to access S3 from an external AWS account, add the following configuration items:

      run_mode = shared_data
      cloud_native_meta_port = <meta_port>
      cloud_native_storage_type = S3

      # For example, testbucket/subpath
      aws_s3_path = <s3_path>

      # For example, us-west-2
      aws_s3_region = <region>

      # For example, https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
      aws_s3_endpoint = <endpoint_url>

      aws_s3_use_instance_profile = true
      aws_s3_iam_role_arn = <role_arn>
      aws_s3_external_id = <external_id>

  • If you use GCP Cloud Storage:

    run_mode = shared_data
    cloud_native_meta_port = <meta_port>
    cloud_native_storage_type = S3

    # For example, testbucket/subpath
    aws_s3_path = <s3_path>

    # For example: us-east-1
    aws_s3_region = <region>

    # For example: https://storage.googleapis.com
    aws_s3_endpoint = <endpoint_url>

    aws_s3_access_key = <access_key>
    aws_s3_secret_key = <secret_key>

  • If you use MinIO:

    run_mode = shared_data
    cloud_native_meta_port = <meta_port>
    cloud_native_storage_type = S3

    # For example, testbucket/subpath
    aws_s3_path = <s3_path>

    # For example: us-east-1
    aws_s3_region = <region>

    # For example: http://172.26.xx.xxx:39000
    aws_s3_endpoint = <endpoint_url>

    aws_s3_access_key = <access_key>
    aws_s3_secret_key = <secret_key>

Configure BE nodes for shared-data StarRocks​

Before starting BEs, add the following configuration items in the BE configuration file be.conf:

starlet_port = <starlet_port>
storage_root_path = <storage_root_path>
Configuration itemDescription
starlet_portThe BE heartbeat service port. Default value: 9070.
storage_root_pathThe storage volume directory that the local cached data depends on and the medium type of the storage. Multiple volumes are separated by semicolon (;). If the storage medium is SSD, add ,medium:ssd at the end of the directory. If the storage medium is HDD, add ,medium:hdd at the end of the directory. Example: /data1,medium:hdd;/data2,medium:ssd. Default value: ${STARROCKS_HOME}/storage.

NOTE

The data is cached under the directory <storage_root_path>/starlet_cache.

Use your shared-data StarRocks cluster​

The usage of shared-data StarRocks clusters is also similar to that of a classic StarRocks cluster. The only difference is that you must create a special table to use object storage for your data.

Create a table​

After connecting to your shared-data StarRocks cluster, create a database and then table in the database. Currently, shared-data StarRocks clusters support the following table types:

  • Duplicate Key table
  • Aggregate table
  • Unique Key table

NOTE

Currently, Primary Key table is not supported on StarRocks shared-data clusters.

The following example creates a database cloud_db and a table detail_demo based on Duplicate Key table type, enables the local disk cache, sets the cache expiration time to 30 days, and disables asynchronous data ingestion into object storage:

CREATE DATABASE cloud_db;
USE cloud_db;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS detail_demo (
    recruit_date  DATE           NOT NULL COMMENT "YYYY-MM-DD",
    region_num    TINYINT        COMMENT "range [-128, 127]",
    num_plate     SMALLINT       COMMENT "range [-32768, 32767] ",
    tel           INT            COMMENT "range [-2147483648, 2147483647]",
    id            BIGINT         COMMENT "range [-2^63 + 1 ~ 2^63 - 1]",
    password      LARGEINT       COMMENT "range [-2^127 + 1 ~ 2^127 - 1]",
    name          CHAR(20)       NOT NULL COMMENT "range char(m),m in (1-255) ",
    profile       VARCHAR(500)   NOT NULL COMMENT "upper limit value 65533 bytes",
    ispass        BOOLEAN        COMMENT "true/false"
)
DUPLICATE KEY(recruit_date, region_num)
DISTRIBUTED BY HASH(recruit_date, region_num)
PROPERTIES (
    "enable_storage_cache" = "true",
    "storage_cache_ttl" = "2592000",
    "enable_async_write_back" = "false"
);

NOTICE

Since v2.5.7, StarRocks can automatically set the number of buckets (BUCKETS) when you create a table or add a partition. You no longer need to manually set the number of buckets. For detailed information, see determine the number of buckets.

In addition to the regular table PROPERTIES, you need to specify the following PROPERTIES when creating a table for shared-data StarRocks cluster:

PropertyDescription
enable_storage_cacheWhether to enable the local disk cache. Default: true.
  • When this property is set to true, the data to be loaded is simultaneously written into the object storage and the local disk (as the cache for query acceleration).
  • When this property is set to false, the data is loaded only into the object storage.
NOTE
To enable the local disk cache, you must specify the directory of the disk in the BE configuration item storage_root_path.
storage_cache_ttlThe duration for which StarRocks caches the loaded data in the local disk if the local disk cache is enabled. The expired data is deleted from the local disk. If the value is set to -1, the cached data does not expire. Default: 2592000 (30 days).
CAUTION
If you disabled the local disk cache, you do not need to set this configuration item. Setting this item to a value other than 0 when the local disk cache is disabled will cause unexpected behaviors of StarRocks.
enable_async_write_backWhether to allow data to be written into object storage asynchronously. Default: false.
  • When this property is set to true, the load task returns success as soon as the data is written into the local disk cache, and the data is written into the object storage asynchronously. This allows better loading performance, but it also risks data reliability under potential system failures.
  • When this property is set to false, the load task returns success only after the data is written into both object storage and the local disk cache. This guarantees higher availability but leads to lower loading performance.

View table information​

You can view the information of tables in a specific database using SHOW PROC "/dbs/<db_id>". See SHOW PROC for more information.

Example:

mysql> SHOW PROC "/dbs/xxxxx";
+---------+-------------+----------+---------------------+--------------+--------+--------------+--------------------------+--------------+---------------+------------------------------+
| TableId | TableName   | IndexNum | PartitionColumnName | PartitionNum | State  | Type         | LastConsistencyCheckTime | ReplicaCount | PartitionType | StoragePath                  |
+---------+-------------+----------+---------------------+--------------+--------+--------------+--------------------------+--------------+---------------+------------------------------+
| 12003   | detail_demo | 1        | NULL                | 1            | NORMAL | CLOUD_NATIVE | NULL                     | 8            | UNPARTITIONED | s3://xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/1/12003/ |
+---------+-------------+----------+---------------------+--------------+--------+--------------+--------------------------+--------------+---------------+------------------------------+

The Type of a table in shared-data StarRocks cluster is CLOUD_NATIVE. In the field StoragePath, StarRocks returns the object storage directory where the table is stored.

Load data into a shared-data StarRocks cluster​

Shared-data StarRocks clusters support all loading methods provided by StarRocks. See Overview of data loading for more information.

Query in a shared-data StarRocks cluster​

Tables in a shared-data StarRocks cluster support all types of queries provided by StarRocks. See StarRocks SELECT for more information.