Realtime Data

In the system we distinguish between two different types of data: Realtime Data and Historical Data.

The term Realtime can have different meanings in different industries or software systems. Within system:inmation Realtime Data means the most current value of an entity only, while Historical Data is about a time range of data that typically includes data with timestamps from the past.

Before Realtime Data can be transferred, it has to be recognized, and thus can only be transferred after this recognition, even if this only refers to a fraction of a millisecond. Since for data transfer our system builds upon existing network infrastructure and the Internet in general, the speed of the data transfer is closely linked to the capabilities and limitations of this infrastructure. It’s due to limitations like these, that 'Realtime' is generally defined as 'as quickly as possible'.

When we speak about 'Realtime', we adhere to this definition. The system is optimized for the quickest data transfer possible, providing a special channel which is dedicated this single task, called the 'Realtime Data Channel'. The goal is to always deliver the latest data, therefore the Realtime Data channel has the highest internal priority. This means that eventually 'slower' data (e.g. due to network problems) is discarded for the sake of more recent data. So the Realtime Channel does not guarantee full data integrity. Given the infrastructure supports it, under normal conditions the Realtime Channel transfers data from its source to its destination in one second or less - even from the other side of the globe.

Opposed to this the system also provides the History Data channel which is dedicated to data integrity. This channel provides buffering mechanisms on multiple levels, for guaranteed delivery of all recognized data. At the same time the delivery is of lower priority than the Realtime data, and is a “best effort” transfer timewise. Means one can not rely on, when the data will be transferred exactly, but on the fact that it will be complete. Under normal conditions also HistoryData will be transferred from source to destination within 1-2 seconds.

Please see Store and Forward (Saf) for more information regarding this topic.