Master Neo4j 5 Administration

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Neo4j Five and its Exciting Release
3. Availability and Deployment Options
4. Innovative Features for Administrators
   • Offline Incremental Import
   • Write and Import Performance Improvements
   • Indexing Considerations
   • Scaling and Availability with Autonomous Clustering
   • Fabric: Scaling and Federating Databases
5. Changes and Benefits for Aura & Self-Managed Customers
   • Server-Side Routing
   • Improved Security Configurations
   • Enhancements in Supportability
   • Backup and Restore Improvements
   • Breakings Changes and Upgrades
6. Conclusion

Neo4j Five: An Exciting Release for Administrators

Neo4j Five marks a significant milestone for the Neo4j product platform. This release, which went GA on October 24th, encompasses the entire Neo4j product portfolio, making it available as a unified platform with seamless compatibility. Whether You're an administrator, a developer, or a data scientist, Neo4j Five has something to offer. In this article, we will focus on the new capabilities and improvements specifically designed for administrators. From write and import performance enhancements to availability and observability features, we'll explore the exciting possibilities that Neo4j Five brings to the table.

Availability and Deployment Options

Before diving into the details, let's take a moment to discuss the availability and deployment options for Neo4j Five. This release is not only available for self-managed deployments but also for Neo4j Aura customers. Neo4j Aura provides an easy-to-use cloud database service, while also being accessible through popular cloud marketplaces such as AWS, Azure, and GCP. With the recent release of helm charts for Neo4j Five's autonomous clusters, deploying and managing your Neo4j databases has Never been easier.

Innovative Features for Administrators

Offline Incremental Import

One of the most significant enhancements in Neo4j Five is the ability to perform an offline incremental import. This feature enables administrators to pull in large amounts of data from other database systems, even while the production database is running. By importing data as a CSV file, administrators can go through a preparatory phase, bring the database offline, and then perform the import. This process can be executed all at once or phased, depending on the database's Read requirements during the build cycle. The offline incremental import is not only quick but also offers significant performance improvements, making it 10 to 100 times faster than transactional loading.

Write and Import Performance Improvements

Neo4j Five brings numerous improvements in write and import performance. If you've used the admin import feature in previous versions, you'd be familiar with its ability to quickly import large amounts of data. However, until now, there hasn't been a way to perform an incremental import as part of nightly batch jobs or ETL processes. With Neo4j Five, administrators can now leverage the new capabilities to import new nodes, relationships, and properties from CSV files, while ensuring that indexes and constraints are maintained. The performance gains are significant, allowing administrators to load data up to 10 to 100 times faster than transactional loading.

Indexing Considerations

In Neo4j Five, there have been some changes and improvements in indexing. Notably, Neo4j Five no longer supports BTREE indexes, which were replaced in Neo4j 4.4. Instead, Neo4j Five introduces range indexes, which provide support for comparator operators, such as equals, greater than, less than, and more. These range indexes work across various data types, including Boolean, floats, and strings, enabling efficient searching and querying within your graph data. Additionally, support for indexing lists and arrays in full-text indexes has been introduced, further enhancing the ability to find and retrieve data from your database.

Scaling and Availability with Autonomous Clustering

One of the most exciting capabilities introduced in Neo4j Five is the concept of autonomous clusters. This sophisticated clustering architecture brings scalability and availability to a whole new level. Unlike previous versions, where a copy of the database needed to be running on every server within the cluster, Neo4j Five allows administrators to have as many servers as they want without the need for a full copy of the database on each server. This breakthrough technology enables administrators to Scale out their clusters by adding more servers, while ensuring the cluster's full tolerance and performance. With autonomous clustering, administrators can focus on managing and operating ultra-large high-scale databases with ease.

Fabric: Scaling and Federating Databases

Neo4j Five also integrates Neo4j Fabric, a powerful feature that enables scaling and federating databases. Fabric is now an integral part of the cluster, providing a shared view of the schema and security. Administrators can Create composite databases with ease, specifying the topology they require within the cluster. Whether you need primary copies, read replicas, or backups, autonomous clustering intelligently allocates the databases within the available servers. This seamless integration allows administrators to dynamically create sharded and federated graphs in Cypher, unlocking new possibilities for scaling and managing data across multiple databases. By leveraging fabric, administrators can execute Parallel queries, perform real-time analysis, and aggregate data across different databases, ultimately gaining valuable insights and answering critical business questions.

Changes and Benefits for Aura & Self-Managed Customers

Neo4j Five brings several changes and benefits for both Aura and self-managed customers. With the introduction of server-side routing, deploying Neo4j Five behind load balancers in the cloud has become much easier and more efficient. Server-side routing takes care of routing requests to the right server within the cluster, eliminating the need for clients to maintain server leadership information.

Improved security configurations are also part of Neo4j Five's feature set. Administrators can now configure impersonation, allowing them to test permissions and demonstrate the effectiveness of their permissions policy to auditors or governance bodies. Additionally, enhanced supportability features, such as extended migration windows and improved upgrade experiences, make it even more straightforward for administrators to transition from Neo4j 4.4 to Neo4j Five.

Backup and restore operations have seen significant improvements, with up to 75% storage savings when using full and differential backups. Administrators can chain differential backups, enabling point-in-time restore within the differential backup chain. The introduction of an API and the use of immutable backup files make managing backups and restores more straightforward and efficient.

It's important to note that Neo4j Five includes some breaking changes, but these will only occur within the major version. The restructuring and reorganization of admin commands have significantly improved the overall user experience, especially for new users. However, existing customers should be aware of these changes and familiarize themselves with the new command structure.

Conclusion

Neo4j Five brings a host of exciting features and improvements specifically designed for administrators. From offline incremental import to enhanced write and import performance, scaling and availability with autonomous clustering, and the power of fabric for scaling and federating databases, Neo4j Five empowers administrators to manage and operate their databases more efficiently and effectively. The changes and benefits extend to both Aura and self-managed customers, further enhancing the user experience and making Neo4j a robust and comprehensive database platform for organizations of all sizes. Embrace Neo4j Five, and enjoy the possibilities it brings to your graph-Based applications and solutions.

Highlights:

• Neo4j Five marks a significant milestone with the release of its entire product platform.
• Offline incremental import allows administrators to import data from CSV files while the production database is running.
• Write and import performance improvements make loading data 10 to 100 times faster than before.
• Range indexes replace BTREE indexes, offering enhanced search and querying capabilities.
• Autonomous clustering enables administrators to scale out with more servers without full copies of the database.
• Neo4j Fabric allows for scaling and federating databases, enabling parallel queries and real-time analysis.
• Server-side routing simplifies Neo4j deployment behind load balancers in the cloud.
• Enhanced security configurations, supportability, and backup and restore operations.
• Improved migration and upgrade experiences facilitate smooth transitions to Neo4j Five.

FAQs:

Q: Can I upgrade directly from Neo4j 4.4 to Neo4j Five? A: Yes, the migration process from Neo4j 4.4 to Neo4j Five is quick and straightforward. It only involves updating the metadata and does not depend on the size of the database.

Q: What are the deployment options for Neo4j Five? A: Neo4j Five is available for both self-managed deployments and Neo4j Aura customers. It can be accessed through popular cloud marketplaces like AWS, Azure, and GCP.

Q: How does fabric work in Neo4j Five? A: Fabric is integrated into the cluster in Neo4j Five, providing a shared view of the schema and security. It enables scaling and federating databases, allowing administrators to create composite databases and execute parallel queries across multiple databases.

Q: What improvements have been made in backup and restore operations? A: Neo4j Five introduces more efficient backup and restore operations, with up to 75% storage savings when using full and differential backups. Point-in-time restore within differential backups is now possible as well.