Kolmos is a cloud database engine built for PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MongoDB workloads. It combines self-compressing storage, columnar architecture, and multi-wire compatibility to reduce database storage and cloud infrastructure costs.

Which database wire protocols does Kolmos support?

Kolmos natively supports PostgreSQL (port 5432), MySQL (port 3306), and MongoDB (port 27017) wire protocols. Standard drivers, ORMs (Prisma, Drizzle, SQLAlchemy, Hibernate), and database clients connect seamlessly with zero application code changes.

How does Kolmos reduce cloud database storage costs?

Kolmos uses an autonomous Explanation Ladder that mines Minimum Description Length (MDL) formulas and prototype clusters to compress data 1.66×–2.12× smaller than Parquet-zstd. It stores files directly on Cloudflare R2 object storage ($0.015/GB/mo) with zero data egress fees, cutting overall cloud database storage bills by 10× to 40×.

Is Kolmos data recovery 100% lossless?

Yes. Kolmos guarantees 100% mathematical fidelity via Invariant #1: decode(encode(x)) == x across all SQL and BSON data types. Every row decodes bit-perfectly with zero precision drift.

How does Kolmos execute fast analytical queries on cloud object storage?

Kolmos embeds min/max statistics and Bloom filters into segment headers. Using Apache DataFusion vectorized execution and predicate pushdown, the engine prunes irrelevant segments and streams zero-copy Apache Arrow memory buffers without downloading unneeded data.

What prevents vendor lock-in with Kolmos storage formats?

Every Kolmos segment footer pins an open, self-contained WASM decoder covenant executed in an isolated Wasmtime sandbox. This guarantees your database files remain readable perpetually decades later without requiring proprietary server runtimes.

Home/Journal/Architecture

Architecture·12 min read·November 1, 2026

What is KOLMOS? The Unified Cloud Database Engine for PostgreSQL, MySQL & MongoDB

An engineering introduction to KOLMOS: a unified cloud database engine with multi-wire protocol compatibility, autonomous mathematical compression, and zero-egress object storage economics.

KOLMOS Engineering Team

Database Core & Storage Architecture · KOLMOS Systems

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Executive Summary: KOLMOS is a modern, unified cloud database engine engineered to eliminate the high storage, replication, and egress costs of traditional cloud databases. It speaks the native PostgreSQL wire protocol (port 5432), MySQL wire protocol (port 3306), and MongoDB BSON protocol (port 27017) over a single, shared, self-compressing columnar storage engine built on top of Cloudflare R2 and AWS S3 object storage.

The Problem with Modern Cloud Databases

For the past two decades, engineering teams have been forced into an expensive compromise:

1.Transactional Row Stores (PostgreSQL & MySQL): Fantastic for OLTP, but disastrously expensive at scale. 8KB heap pages create severe vacuum bloat, secondary indexes consume 40–60% of disk space, and managed cloud providers (AWS RDS, Aurora) charge exorbitant premiums for provisioned IOPS and block storage.

2.Document Stores (MongoDB): Highly productive for developer velocity, but memory-intensive and notoriously prone to uncompressed BSON storage overhead on managed cloud instances (Atlas).

3.Egress Fees and Storage Lock-in: Cloud providers charge up to $0.09 per gigabyte just to transfer analytical data out of their walled gardens.

KOLMOS was created to dismantle this cost trap through an architecture built from first principles in Rust.

Technical Blueprint

Storage PlaneCloudflare R2 CAS

Execution CoreDataFusion SIMD

Decode Fidelity100% Bit-Exact

Wire DoorsPG · MySQL · Mongo

Official Channels

linkedin.com/company/kolmos

kolmos.dev

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL Compression: How to Reduce Database Storage Without Sacrificing Performance

PostgreSQL

How to Make PostgreSQL Cheaper Without Sacrificing Performance

Cloud Costs

How to Reduce Amazon Aurora Costs in 2026: Taming the I/O and Storage Beast

Core Architectural Pillars of KOLMOS

1. Multi-Wire Protocol Compatibility

You do not need to rewrite your application or learn new query drivers. KOLMOS exposes native protocol listeners on standard database ports:

PostgreSQL (Port 5432): Connect using psql, Prisma, Drizzle, SQLAlchemy, Django, or node-postgres.

MySQL (Port 3306): Connect using standard MySQL drivers, Sequelize, TypeORM, or mysqldump.

MongoDB (Port 27017): Connect using the official MongoDB Node, Python, or Go drivers with native BSON parsing.

All three protocols run against the same underlying storage engine and catalog, enabling seamless hybrid transactional and analytical processing (HTAP).

2. Self-Compressing Columnar Storage (.ksf)

Instead of storing row tuples inside rigid 8KB pages, KOLMOS organizes data into immutable columnar segments (.ksf files). It uses an autonomous compression ladder:

Rung 0 (Dictionary + FastCDC): Dictionary encoding trained per column plus Content-Defined Chunking deduplication.

Rung 1 (Formula Mining): Automatically mines mathematical and algebraic relationships across numerical columns (e.g., total = subtotal + tax).

Rung 2 (Prototype Clustering): Uses k-medoids clustering to store repetitive event rows as compact delta vectors against prototype records.

The result is 1.66× to 2.12× smaller storage than Apache Parquet-zstd, and up to 4× smaller than uncompressed database heap files.

3. 100% Bit-Exact Lossless Guarantee

Compression algorithms that approximate numerical values are unacceptable for mission-critical databases. KOLMOS mathematically guarantees bit-exact recovery: every single bit, floating-point mantissa, and timestamp is verified through cryptographic BLAKE3 checksums and golden fixtures.

4. Cloud Object Storage Economics (Zero Egress)

Traditional databases rely on costly cloud block storage (AWS EBS gp3 at $0.08–$0.12/GB/month). KOLMOS persists compressed segments directly to Cloudflare R2 ($0.015/GB/month) with zero egress fees. This immediately lowers total database storage TCO by 15× to 40×.

How to Get Started with KOLMOS

Connecting to KOLMOS requires zero code changes:

bash

# Connect via standard PostgreSQL psql CLI
psql "postgres://admin:password@cloud.kolmos.dev:5432/production"

# Or connect via standard MySQL CLI
mysql -h cloud.kolmos.dev -P 3306 -u admin -p production

# Or connect via MongoDB Connection URI
mongosh "mongodb://admin:password@cloud.kolmos.dev:27017/production"

Recommended Exploration & Deep Dives

Database Benchmarks & Performance Comparison — View measured latency, throughput, and compression metrics.

KOLMOS vs PostgreSQL Comparison — Architectural breakdown between PostgreSQL and KOLMOS.

PostgreSQL Compression Optimization Guide — Deep dive into TOAST, LZ4, and columnar storage.

KOLMOS Systems Architecture — Explore the internal Rust execution engine and DataFusion query planner.

Official Homepage — Learn more about KOLMOS cloud database engine.

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