Case Study: SingleStore's Scalable Future

SingleStore, which combines transactions, analytics, vector, and JSON in a unified, distributed SQL data platform, successfully transitioned from a cloud-heavy infrastructure to a high-performance, on-premises environment with Evocative. This has resulted in improved efficiency, cost optimization, and a scalable colocation strategy.

From Cloud to Colocation: How SingleStore Built a Scalable Future with Evocative

As SingleStore’s platform grew to power real-time analytics and generative AI applications for some of the world’s largest enterprises like Nvidia, Goldman Sachs, Siemens, Adobe, and Dell, so did their infrastructure demands. While the public cloud initially provided flexibility and ease of deployment, it also introduced significant costs that were difficult to sustain at scale.

SingleStore discovered it was spending nearly 20x more in public cloud spend than it would by running its core infrastructure on-premises. In addition to the financial impact, it faced limited visibility and governance over cloud workloads, which made it difficult to optimize for performance or control resource sprawl. This imbalance made it clear that a cloud-only model wasn’t aligned with its long-term growth or cost-efficiency goals. They needed a path forward that would deliver:

Cost optimization
Greater workload perfornance
Predictable high-performance infrastructure for real-time analytics

“Evocative has been an incredible partner in our infrastructure evolution. The facilities, team, and overall support have been outstanding.”

- Nicole Nemmers, Senior Director of Alliances, SingleStore

Download the Case Study PDF

By moving its workloads into a high-density colocation environment, SingleStore could better align their infrastructure with their business strategy—without compromising on performance or flexibility. Evocative’s hands-on guidance in both infrastructure planning and future-proofing made them the clear partner of choice for SingleStore’s migration and growth strategy.

About SingleStore

Founded in 2011 (as MemSQL) in San Francisco, CA

Global presence spans 50+
countries across 8 world regions

425+ customers, including 100+ enterprises with $1B+ ARR

Supports multi-cloud, onprem, and hybrid environments

Translytical Distributed SQL platform for streaming data and analytics

Rethinking Infrastructure for Long-Term Growth

As SingleStore’s platform grew to power real-time analytics and generative AI applications for some of the world’s largest enterprises like Nvidia, Goldman Sachs, Siemens, Adobe, and Dell, so did their infrastructure demands. While the public cloud initially provided flexibility and ease of deployment, it also introduced significant costs that were difficult to sustain at scale.

SingleStore discovered it was spending nearly 20x more in public cloud spend than it would by running its core infrastructure on-premises. In addition to the financial impact, it faced limited visibility and governance over cloud workloads, which made it difficult to optimize for performance or control resource sprawl. This imbalance made it clear that a cloud-only model wasn’t aligned with its long-term growth or cost-efficiency goals. They needed a path forward that would deliver:

Cost optimization
Greater workload perfornance
Predictable high-performance infrastructure for real-time analytics

“This wasn’t just a move out of the cloud—it was a move toward smarter growth. Evocative gave us the infrastructure we needed to build for the future.”

- Casey Caster, Director of Technology Program Management, SingleStore

By moving its workloads into a high-density colocation environment, SingleStore could better align their infrastructure with their business strategy—without compromising on performance or flexibility. Evocative’s hands-on guidance in both infrastructure planning and future-proofing made them the clear partner of choice for SingleStore’s migration and growth strategy.

A Thoughtful and Strategic Migration Plan

The move to Evocative’s Emeryville facility started with 10 racks, later expanded to 18 racks at 17kW per rack. Rather than managing hardware internally, SingleStore leveraged Evocative’s remote hands services to handle day-to-day operations, minimizing the need for on-site engineering presence. Throughout this transition, SingleStore had key decision points, including:

Reducing cloud dependency while ensuring seamless workload transitions.
Optimizing power and space to support high-density compute infrastructure.
Aligning with long-term scalability goals, including potential expansion into additional Evocative facilities

By leveraging Evocative’s expertise, SingleStore successfully navigated these critical decisions for its infrastructure, ensuring high availability and a reliable operating environment for its distributed SQL database.

“Evocative Has Been an Incredible Partner”

“Evocative has been an incredible partner in our infrastructure evolution. The facilities, team, and overall support have been outstanding.”

- Nicole Nemmers, Senior Director of Alliances, SingleStore

The partnership with Evocative has provided SingleStore with years of reliable colocation services, powering its AI-driven, real-time analytics platform. This transition was more than a physical move—it marked a shift in how SingleStore operated its infrastructure.

By colocating with Evocative, SingleStore was able to:

Maintain complete control over its core infrastructure, without cloud limitations.
Implement a fully automated system for updates and refreshes, enabling streamlined operations and minimizing manual intervention.
Optimize its networking strategy by leveraging Evocative’s IP transit and cloud on-ramps, creating a hybrid environment that balances performance and flexibility.
Reduce cloud spend by 20X.

Evocative’s low-latency IP transit services ensure SingleStore can deliver consistent real-time query performance for its globally distributed users.

Meanwhile, cloud on-ramps provide direct, secure connectivity to public cloud environments, allowing SingleStore to move data seamlessly between platforms without relying on the public internet—supporting both operational agility and data governance.

Looking Ahead: Expansion and Future Innovations

SingleStore continues to explore opportunities for leveraging Evocative to further optimize its infrastructure, including:

Positioning colocation footprint to centralize workloads.
Exploring Evocative Metal solutions for additional cost efficiency.
Leveraging Evocative’s Remote Hands services for ongoing operational support.

With a robust colocation strategy in place, SingleStore is well-positioned to scale its data operations, delivering fast, consistent, and AI-ready database solutions for enterprise customers worldwide. To learn more about how Evocative’s data center solutions are purpose-built with a wide range of colocation power, space, and support options to help you accelerate your hybrid cloud and edge computing strategies, be sure to visit: https://evocative.com/data-centers/.

We invite you to visit one of the Evocative state-of-the-art data centers in a strategically located metro area near you—schedule a tour today.

About Evocative

Your Digitial Ecosystem Starts Here

Evocative is a global leader in Internet Infrastructure, providing enterprise-class data center, interconnection, and bare metal solutions that enable exceptional digital experiences. Evocative’s global footprint includes interconnected data centers and Points of Presence across strategically located metros in North America, Europe, and Asia regions. Through organic growth and strategic acquisition, the company continues to expand its presence to power enterprise workloads at the edge. Evocative is dedicated to helping drive digital businesses forward, now and in the decades to come. To learn more, visit evocative.com.