In today’s industrial landscape, data is the lifeblood of operations. In process control and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems, every millisecond counts and reliability is non-negotiable. The right data storage and retrieval technology can mean the difference between downtime and uptime, between reactive fixes and real-time insight.
Three common contenders in the world of time-series data are purpose-built process historians, general-purpose time-series databases (TSDBs), and classic relational databases (RDBs).
In this blog post, I’ll explore what each system is, how these differ in usage, and why integrated process historians—such as the data historian now integral to GENESIS—still offer compelling benefits even in an era of advanced TSDBs.
But let’s start at the beginning…
What Is a Process Historian? It’s Purpose-Built for Industrial Data
A process historian is a specialized tool designed to capture, store, and analyze the continuous flow of time-stamped data from industrial processes. Originally developed for high-demand sectors like manufacturing, energy, and chemicals, process historians are purpose-built for:
- High-speed data ingestion
- Advanced data compression to optimize storage
- Time-based query optimization for faster insights
- Data integrity and continuity mechanisms to ensure accuracy
- Automatic data lifecycle management for long-term efficiency
These capabilities make process historians indispensable for industries that rely on precision, reliability, and real-time visibility.
What is a Time-Series Database (TSDB)? A Scalable, General-Purpose Option
Time-series databases are designed to store sequences of data points indexed chronologically and are now widely used across many industries. They offer flexibility, horizontal scalability, open-source ecosystems, and rich query capabilities.
However, despite their versatility, TSDBs may lack the deep optimization and domain-specific features—like sub-second data resolution, built-in redundancy, and compliance-ready audit trails—that dedicated process historians are engineered to deliver in industrial environments.
Relational Databases (RDB): A Familiar but Limited Choice for Time-Series Data
Some teams consider using traditional Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS)—such as those based on Structured Query Language (SQL)—for historizing time-series data. This is often because many organizations already hold SQL Server licenses for other IT applications, making RDBs appear to be a readily available or low-cost option.
Controls engineers may prefer RDBs due to their familiarity with stored procedures and compatibility with standard reporting tools like SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). However, relational databases typically struggle with high-speed, high-volume time-series data due to:
- Row-oriented storage structures
- Transaction overhead
- Heavy reliance on indexing for performance
While RDBs excel at supporting ad hoc reporting and complex joins, their main strength lies in ACID compliance—a set of properties (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) that ensure data is reliably processed, even in the event of errors or failures.
However, this reliability comes at a cost: relational databases are not optimized for the rapid, continuous ingestion of time-stamped values typical in industrial environments. Their focus on transaction integrity and row-level processing can introduce significant performance bottlenecks in high-throughput scenarios—making them a less effective choice for large-scale, real-time data historization.
Key Differences Among Historians, TSDBs, & RDBs
When it comes to storing and managing industrial time-series data, not all databases are created equal. While process historians, time-series databases (TSDBs), and relational databases (RDBs) can all serve as storage solutions, they vary significantly in performance, reliability, and operational fit. Here’s how they compare across key technical criteria:
Performance Under Extreme Data Loads
- Historians: Specifically optimized to handle extreme data loads, with architectures ensuring minimal latency and rapid ingestion.
- TSDBs: Capable of managing large volumes but often require additional scaling or configuration efforts to match historian performance in critical environments.
- RDBs: Significantly limited by their row-oriented structure, indexing overhead, and transaction-based processing, resulting in performance bottlenecks under high-frequency data ingestion.
Data Integrity and Reliability
- Historians: Built-in mechanisms such as store-and-forward, buffering, and automatic recovery, tailored specifically for industrial networks to prevent data loss.
- TSDBs: Generally robust but often require extra configuration or integration efforts to achieve comparable reliability and redundancy.
- RDBs: Provide high transactional integrity but lack specialized buffering and recovery mechanisms, making them unsuitable for ensuring continuous data flow in volatile network conditions.
Query Optimization
- Historians: Explicitly engineered for fast, efficient retrieval and analysis of time-series data common in industrial settings, streamlining critical operational queries.
- TSDBs: Offer broad, versatile querying capabilities but may lack optimization for specific, real-time operational analytics.
- RDBs: Effective at structured, transactional queries involving complex joins, yet inefficient when performing large-scale time-series queries, often leading to slow performance and full-table scans.
Data Lifecycle Management
- Historians: Automatically manage data lifecycle including aging, aggregation, and archival, significantly reducing administrative overhead and ensuring compliance.
- TSDBs: Provide lifecycle management capabilities but typically require custom configuration and additional development effort.
- RDBs: Generally, have limited built-in lifecycle management capabilities, requiring extensive manual intervention and regular administrative maintenance.
These distinctions make it clear that while TSDBs and RDBs can handle certain industrial data workloads, only process historians are purpose-built to deliver the scale, speed, and resilience to today’s operations demand.
That is why GENESIS by Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions includes a fully integrated process historian—so you don’t have to compromise when it comes to storing and using your most critical data.
GENESIS Delivers with a Native Industrial Historian
At Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions, our focus has always been on delivering solutions that address real-world challenges and help our customers achieve their goals with power, precision, and simplicity. Recognizing the critical advantages of an industrial process historian, we took the next logical step: integrating a full-featured data historian directly into GENESIS.
This new capability redefines data management across projects of all sizes—whether you're deploying GENESIS for SCADA control, operational insight, or enterprise-wide informational visibility. We’ve brought all the power of our standalone Hyper Historian into a single, unified, user-friendly platform.
The integrated historian captures and stores real-time data effortlessly, with advanced features like aggregated, merged, and calculated tags; deadband compression; and robust store-and-forward redundancy via local and remote collectors—ensuring both high availability and data integrity, even during network disruptions.
A simplified user experience, consistent naming conventions, and streamlined configuration remove the pain points of managing separate time-series databases. The result? Faster deployment, enterprise-grade resilience, and enhanced system performance.
And finally, to borrow a phrase from Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and legendary product visionary, “There’s one more thing.”
The historian in GENESIS version 11 is unlimited. Unlimited calculations. Unlimited collection. Unlimited data. That’s what makes GENESIS the most data-centric, future-ready platform on the market today!
To better illustrate the difference between TSDBs and historians, I'll use the following analogy from everyday life.
Comparing Kitchen Knives to Scalpels: Precision Matters in Industrial Data
If industrial data storage tools were knives, the differences would be sharp—and the right choice would make all the difference.
A relational database is like a basic kitchen knife—sufficient for simple, occasional tasks, but lacking the precision, speed, and durability needed in demanding industrial environments. Under pressure, it quickly becomes blunt and ineffective.
A time-series database is more like a Swiss Army knife—versatile, adaptable, and capable of handling a range of general-purpose tasks. But when true precision is required, it simply doesn’t measure up.
The integrated process historian in GENESIS, on the other hand, is like a surgical scalpel: purpose-built, highly refined, and trusted for critical operations where accuracy, speed, and reliability are non-negotiable.
And yes—some historians go even further, delivering a level of sophistication comparable to robotic surgical systems. But these often come with excessive cost, complexity, and training requirements, making them impractical for most real-world industrial applications.
Our GENESIS data historian strikes the ideal balance: precision, functionality, and affordability for most real-world scenarios.
When a TSDB or RDB Is the Right Fit
While we recommend a dedicated process historian for most industrial applications, especially given the performance, reliability, and ease of use offered by the built-in historian in GENESIS, there are still scenarios where other options may be appropriate.
You might consider:
- A general-purpose TSDB when your use case involves multi-domain analytics, flexible cloud infrastructure, rapid prototyping, or budget-sensitive deployments that don’t require industrial-grade fault tolerance.
- A traditional RDB when dealing with small-scale, low-frequency data sets or when teams prefer familiar tools for basic reporting and data access.
These technologies have their place—but for high-volume, high-speed, and high-reliability industrial environments, a process historian remains the best fit.
Making the Right Storage Decision for Industrial Data
Understanding the distinctions between data storage and retrieval technologies will help you make informed choices, driving operational excellence and innovation.
GENESIS simplifies this decision by providing an integrated data historian, delivering unmatched efficiency and reliability tailored specifically for today's demanding industrial landscape.
Explore how GENESIS helps you unify your data, enhance operational insight, and scale with confidence: