Vertica Architecture: Eon Versus Enterprise Mode

A Vertica database runs in one of two modes: Eon or Enterprise. Both modes can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud. Understanding the difference between these two modes is key. If you are deploying a Vertica database, you must decide which mode to run it in early in your deployment planning. If you are using an already-deployed Vertica database, you should understand how each mode affects loading and querying data.

Eon and Enterprise modes primarily differ in where they store data.

• Eon Mode databases use communal storage for their data.
• Enterprise Mode databases store data locally in the file system of nodes that make up the database.

Eon Mode Storage

Eon Mode stores data in a shared object store called communal storage:

When deployed in a cloud environment, Vertica stores its data in a cloud-based storage container, such as an AWS S3 bucket. When deployed on-premises, Vertica stores data in a locally-deployed object store, such as a Pure Storage FlashBlade appliance. Separating the persistent data storage from the compute resources (the nodes that load data and process queries) provides flexibility.

Enterprise Mode Storage

Enterprise Mode stores data across the filesystems of the database nodes:

Each node is responsible for storing and processing a portion of the data. The data is co-located on the nodes in both cloud-based and on-premises databases. Having the data located close to the computing power offers a different set of advantages.

Key Advantages of Each Mode

The different ways Eon Mode and Enterprise Mode store data give each mode an advantage in different environments. The following table summarizes these differences. For details, see Comparing Eon and Enterprise Modes.

Chief advantages of…	Where database mode is…
	Eon	Enterprise
Cloud	Easily scaled up or down to meet changing workloads and reduce costs. Workloads can be isolated to a subcluster of nodes. Virtually no limits on database size. Most cloud providers offer essentially unlimited data storage (for a price).	Works in most cloud platforms. Eon Mode works in specific cloud providers.
On‑premises	Workloads can be isolated to a subset of nodes called a subcluster. Can increase storage without adding nodes (and, if the object store supports hot plugging, without downtime).	No additional hardware needed beyond the servers that make up the database cluster.