TLDR;
HiveSQL is a publicly available Microsoft SQL database containing all the Hive blockchain data.
It allows apps and users to access structured data efficiently, perform analysis, or find valuable information quickly.
By eliminating the need for local blockchain copies or extensive data downloads, HiveSQL provides fast query results, often in seconds, to complex blockchain questions.
Launched in 2016 at the very beginning of the blockchain's life, HiveSQL has been central to many apps building on top of the Hive blockchain from the start.
Initially free, growing costs necessitated the implementation of a funding proposal to maintain its services. Over the years, HiveSQL has undergone several infrastructure and code upgrades to ensure peak performance.
Over time, with more and more users and applications relying on HiveSQL for their proper functioning, operating costs started to climb.
HiveSQL has regularly undergone several code reviews [1][2][3][4][5][6][7].
It was also necessary to carry out several infrastructure upgrades [1][2][3] to be able to keep performances at their best level.
HiveSQL provides extensive documentation, which now serves as a reference for many developers. It is available at https://docs.hivesql.io
Well-known Hive applications that rely on HiveSQL to operate include Peakd, Hive Keychain, 3Speak, Worldmappin, Travelfeed, ... as well as websites like DappRadar, Staking Rewards, HiveTools by 
HiveSQL has been operational for 8 years, and its database has grown to over 5TB, with certain tables nearing 4 billion records. Annually, the database expands by nearly 1TB, highlighting the significant volume of data generated daily by our blockchain.
Every day, HiveSQL processes around 16K requests per minute (with peaks up to ~28K requests/min) (graph), 5K table scans per minute (with peaks up to ~15K scans/min) (graph) daily servicing an average up to 71 Hive applications (graph) which generate between 50K and 200K lock requests each second! (graph).
At times, HiveSQL processes several million index scans per minute, demonstrating how intensively Hive applications use it, but more importantly its capacity to manage extensive data operations efficiently.
Regarding availability, HiveSQL's SLA is close to 100%. Despite a major attack at the beginning of the year which required rebuilding the infrastructure, HiveSQL has been 100% available as usual since then (graph).
The goal of this proposal is to keep HiveSQL free to use and allow the greatest number of developers and users to benefit from this tool to develop their applications and services for our ecosystem.
1. Infrastructure and maintenance costs
Delivering top performance requires robust infrastructure and services and is a costly endeavor. This proposal aims to keep HiveSQL free to maximize its utility across the Hive ecosystem by supporting a wide range of developers and users.
Since its inception, HiveSQL has proven to be reliable, responsive and highly available.
Providing such high-quality services is not free. Setting up, monitoring and maintaining such an infrastructure requires a lot of attention. Maintaining and monitoring the processes that inject data from the blockchain into the database also requires its share of the work.
2. Empower less fortunate developers and users
While HAF (Hive Application Framework) offers users the flexibility to deploy an SQL infrastructure on their own setups, it comes with the burden of management, security, backups, and regular updates, all of which can add significant operational overheads and costs.
In contrast, HiveSQL is a fully managed and shared infrastructure that relieves users from these technical burdens. It is instantly available and capable of delivering enterprise-class performance without the need for management and maintenance efforts. This allows developers and users to focus on what truly matters: building and enhancing applications without worrying about infrastructure-related challenges.
HiveSQL serves as a robust, cost-effective solution, especially for those who wish to access blockchain data without incurring additional logistical hassles.
It's important that everyone can take advantage of the huge potential that HiveSQL offers to Hive in terms of supporting applications, analytics, or any other use case.
3. Grow the hive ecosystem
HiveSQL is a powerful, fast, and efficient tool.
By making HiveSQL accessible to as many people as possible, within the Hive community and beyond, it can help Hive grow.
If we give users and application developers free and easy access to our blockchain data, we provide them with the perfect tool to develop their business and services, thereby facilitating the onboarding of more users.
4. Infrastructure Update
While there have been no major changes to the HiveSQL database due to relatively stable data structures, the existing infrastructure is slowly nearing its performance limits.
In the coming year, plans are in place to upgrade HiveSQL with expanded storage, more powerful processors, and potentially additional memory to maintain its high service levels as demand grows.
This proposal request is to cover current and future costs in terms of infrastructure and human resources so that HiveSQL can continue to run and enable developers and users to use it for free.
The operational budget is based on the following elements:
1. Infrastructure and services
2. DevOps
3. WebOps
Based on our past experience, we are requesting a budget of 135 HBD per day for the next two years, maintaining the same level of funding as in the previous proposal.
Main website: https://hivesql.io
Documentation: https://docs.hivesql.io
Service status: https://hivesql.io/status
Support is provided on Discord
Thank you for your support!
