An SQLite Annual Maintenance Subscription is an affordable way to get expedited bug fixes and fast, authoritative answers to common SQLite programming questions. An annual maintenance subscription authorizes you to send private email directly to the developers of SQLite and to expect a prompt reply.
SQLite is open-source, giving you full access to the source code, and there is an active development community on the web that you can go to for free help. So if you spend a little time and effort you can probably get the answer you need for free on the internet. But this might take more time than you like and there might be lingering questions about the veracity of the result. So for many commercial users, it makes sense to have an expert at hand - someone you can call to get an authoritative answer in a hurry. That is what an annual maintenance subscription is all about.
For additional information about the annual maintenance subscription click here. An annual maintenance subscription costs US $1500 and can be purchased online.
The SQLite Encryption Extension (SEE) is an enhanced version of SQLite that encrypts database files using 128-bit AES to help prevent unauthorized access or modification. The entire database file is encrypted so that to an outside observer, the database file appears to contain white noise. There is nothing that identifies the file as an SQLite database.
The SEE can read and write ordinary unencrypted databases without any performance penalty. You can use the ATTACH SQL command to attach an encrypted database to an unencrypted database or to attach an unencrypted database to an encrypted one. The password to a database can be changed at any time, though doing so is an expensive operation roughly comparable to VACUUM.
The SEE decrypts each page of data as it is read from the disk and reencrypts it as modified versions are written back to the disk. Both the primary database file and the rollback journal are encrypted. Fast encryption algorithms are used, but even so it takes time to do all of that encryption and decryption. So when encryption is enabled, there can be about a 50% performance loss.
A perpetual source code license for the SQLite Encryption Extension is available for purchase online for a one-time licensing fee of US $2000. A maintenance subscription is also recommended but is not required. There are no per-copy royalties. The one-time fee entitles the licensee to free copies of all future updates to the code. For additional information, please contact us by email to sqlite@hwaci.com or by telephone during US East Coast business hours at +1.704.948.4565.
The Compressed and Encrypted Read-Only Database (CEROD) extension extension allows SQLite to read database files that have been both compressed and encrypted. The amount of compression depends on the kind of data that is stored, of course, but typically is in the 50% to 70% range.
Compressed databases are read-only. To create a compressed database, first construct a normal uncompressed database holding the desired data. Then run a special command-line tool (included with the extension) that converts the uncompressed database into a much smaller compressed and encrypted database. Afterwards the compressed database can be read (but not written) using this extension.
Compressed databases are useful in products that contain a large fixed data set that needs to be squeezed into the limited memory space of a PDA or other gadget or onto a single CD-ROM or DVD. If an application has both a large fixed data set and also some smaller read/write tables, then the large fixed data set can be stored in a compressed database file and the variable database can be held in a separate uncompressed read/write database. The two databases can be accessed as if they were one using the ATTACH command in SQLite.
The CEROD extension is separate from the SQLite Encryption Extension above. But the two extensions can be used together if desired. When both extensions are in use, you can ATTACH any combination of normal, CEROD, and SEE databases to a single SQLite database connection and operate on all databases at once, as if they were all the same database file.
The CEROD extension for SQLite are available in source-code form for purchase on-line for a one-time licensing fee of US $2000. A maintenance subscription is also recommended but is not required. There are no per-copy royalties. The one-time fee entitles the licensee to free copies of all future updates to the code. For additional information, please contact us by email to sqlite@hwaci.com or by telephone during US East Coast business hours at +1.704.948.4565.
Teams using SQLite as a critical part of the infrastructure or product may want to obtain a higher level of support than is provided by the entry-level maintenance subscription described above. Advanced technical support packages can include features such as:
A standard Technical Support Agreement is available. Or technical support packages are customized to meet the needs of each individual client. For additional information, please contact us by email to sqlite@hwaci.com or by telephone during US East Coast business hours at +1.704.948.4565.
Companies that are using SQLite as a critical component in their products or infrastructure may want to consider becoming SQLite Consortium Members.
SQLite Consortium members play an important role in the continuing vitality of SQLite by providing the funding needed to keep SQLite under active development and maintenance. Consortium members are considered part of the SQLite development team, are consulted on all technical matters, and are equal partners with the developers in deciding future directions for the SQLite project. In addition, consortium members receive elite support from the SQLite developers.
A maintenance subscription is a great way to get basic technical support with a minimum of effort and expense. But if your company is embedding SQLite in a major hardware or software product, you may want to consider building internal expertise rather than relying solely on external support. If SQLite is an important part of your product, then it makes a lot of sense for your engineering and support staff to know the details of what SQLite is doing behind the scenes. This reduces your long-term risk and enhances the value and productivity of your development staff. It will likely result in a better product since if your engineers understand the detailed inner workings of SQLite, they will be able to use it more effectively to extract every last ounce of performance from the system.
Teaching your staff the internals of most other 3rd-party software systems is an intimidating and expensive task. But that is not the case with SQLite. SQLite is very accessible. The code is designed to be easy to read and maintain. A competent programmer can be very knowledgeable about the architecture of SQLite and be comfortable reading and modifying the SQLite code base after only a day or two of study.
The original author of SQLite is available for on-site training of your staff. For additional information, please contact us by email to sqlite@hwaci.com or by telephone during US East Coast business hours at +1.704.948.4565.
Some projects can be best served by a customized version of SQLite with specialized capabilities and/or extensions. For example:
You should not have to settle for a proprietary database library that lacks needed features when you can have full source code and unlimited rights to a database that meets your needs exactly and completely. Just let us know what your special requirements are. We can reply with either a fixed-priced bid or give you an estimate and an hourly billing rate.
For additional information, please contact us by email to sqlite@hwaci.com or by telephone during US East Coast business hours at +1.704.948.4565.If you have a software emergency involving SQLite, even if SQLite is not directly to blame for the problem, we may be able to provide an emergency response to fix your problem and get you back running again. An emergency response is a short-term intervention designed to help you recover quickly from a single crisis. Our aim is to come to your site, locate and fix the problem or problems, then hand the solution over to your regular development and support staff, all in one week or less. An additional 90 days of post-crisis email and telephone assistance is provided to make sure all of the loose ends have been tied up properly.
In a typical emergency response, we will assign two consultants to your problem full-time, one on-site and the other remote, and then have additional consultants standing by to provide assistance on an as-needed basis. We are prepared to escalate with additional full-time on-site and remote consultants as necessary.
Our consultant network includes some of the brightest stars in the Open-Source software arena with offices on three continents. All of our consultants are in high demand, and so availability may be an issue. If you anticipate a need you can reserve time in advance by paying a small retainer.
A software emergency response involves having some of the most talented programmers in the world postpone the important things they are currently working on to help you instead. Fees are commensurate with this level of service. However, if your business processes are being disrupted by a software problem, the cost of an emergency response will be insignificant compared to the money you save by having the problem dealt with by experts in an efficient and timely manner.
The 24-hour software emergency hotline is +1.704.661.8615. Please use the 24-hour emergency hotline for time-critical situations only. For other routine inquiries, contact our office during US East Coast business hours at +1.704.948.4565 or by email to sqlite@hwaci.com.
We hope that you never need this service, but if you do we will do everything we can to help you.