clauvalor

Clauvalor is a term used in computing to describe a class of data storage systems that store data as key-value pairs. The term derives from Catalan clau (key) and valor (value). In a clauvalor system, data is addressed by a unique key; the stored value is opaque to the storage layer, though it may be serialized data, strings, or binary blobs. There is typically no supporting schema for the values themselves.

Basic operations include put (or set), get, and delete. Some systems also support update, batch operations, and atomic primitives. Data access is designed to be fast, with most implementations providing near-constant time complexity for read/write in typical workloads. Clauvalor stores can be in-memory, on disk, or distributed across multiple nodes, enabling horizontal scaling and replication for durability.

Distributed clauvalor databases implement various consistency models, ranging from strong consistency to eventual consistency, often balancing latency and availability per the CAP theorem. Partitioning and replication are common to improve throughput and fault tolerance.

Common deployment patterns include in-process caches, shared caches in server clusters, and fully distributed storage backends. Typical use cases are session storage, caching of ephemeral data, configuration data, feature flags, user profiles, and shopping cart contents. Limitations include limited ad hoc querying, absence of complex relationships, and potential need for secondary indexes or transformation layers for rich queries.

See also: Key-value store, NoSQL databases, Redis, Memcached.