This page collects documentation, knowledge base content, and collateral for the VAST DataBase and VAST Vector Database (vector search) in one place. Use it as a starting point for learning, deploying, and positioning VAST's tabular and vector database capabilities.
How this page is organized
Documentation and Knowledge Base links point to categories, so you always land on the latest set of articles. Collateral links point to individual assets in the VAST Resource Library. Items marked 🔒 require a short registration form.
Documentation
VAST Cluster 5.5 (current)
| Guide | Category | What's inside |
|---|---|---|
| Administrator's Guide | VAST Database | Top-level category for all VAST DataBase admin content |
| Administrator's Guide | VAST Database Features | Overview, query engine access, supported pushdowns and data types, row/column security, Vector Search, Vector Database Index, partitioning, sorted tables, schema and storage management |
| Administrator's Guide | Setting Up the VAST Database Environment | Importing data, VAST Query Engine, managing databases, schemas, tables, and projections, monitoring |
| Administrator's Guide | VAST Catalog | Catalog overview, configuration, querying from the Web UI, client access, VAST Database CLI quick start |
| Tenant Administrator's Guide | VAST Database | Top-level category for tenant-scoped database content |
| Tenant Administrator's Guide | VAST Database Features | Feature reference for tenant administrators, including vector search |
| Tenant Administrator's Guide | Setting Up the VAST Database Environment | Tenant-level database setup and management |
Previous versions
| Version | Administrator's Guide | Tenant Administrator's Guide |
|---|---|---|
| 5.4 | VAST Database | VAST Database |
| 5.3 | VAST Database | VAST Database |
| 5.2 | VAST Database | — |
Knowledge Base
| Category | What's inside |
|---|---|
| Database | Trino integration (external clusters, Trino on CNodes, S3 spooling for query resiliency), Trino & VAST Catalog quick start, querying the VAST Catalog, catalog code examples, auditing DB queries |
| Solutions and Integrations | Parent category for Database, AI, BigData, and Cloud integration guides |
VAST DataBase Collateral
Solution briefs and white papers
| Title | Type | Length |
|---|---|---|
| VAST DataBase – A New Foundation for AI | Solution Brief | 3 pages |
| VAST DataBase: Unifying Transactions, Analytics, and AI at Scale 🔒 | White Paper | 7 pages |
| Why VAST DataBase is Faster and Easier Than Iceberg for AI & Analytics 🔒 | White Paper | 24 pages |
| How VAST DataBase Eliminates the Iceberg/Parquet Bottleneck for Quantitative Data Platforms 🔒 | White Paper | 28 pages |
| Beyond the Warehouse and the Lakehouse 🔒 | White Paper | 10 pages |
| Trino | White Paper | 4 pages |
Videos, sessions, and labs
| Title | Type | Length |
|---|---|---|
| The VAST DataBase Explained | Video | 23:06 |
| High-Performance Analytics with VAST DataBase | VAST Forward Session | 51:49 |
| Audit Records with the VAST DataBase | Video | 9:46 |
| Code Lab: Data Pipeline and Analytics | Lab Guide | Code |
| Beyond Iceberg: How VAST DataBase Delivers 20x Faster Analytics & AI Performance 🔒 | Webinar | 33:04 |
Webinar series: From Data to AI – VAST Analytics Explained
An 8-part technical series on how the VAST AI OS unifies analytics, streaming, and AI.
Customer success stories
| Title | Length |
|---|---|
| Real-Time BIaaS via VAST DataBase | — |
| Modernizing Threat Intelligence at Scale with VAST DataBase | 5 pages |
| Cutting Query Costs and Powering Threat Intelligence with VAST DataBase | 3 pages |
Use case: Cyber Lakehouse
| Title | Type | Length |
|---|---|---|
| VAST for Cybersecurity: A Modern Cyber Lakehouse for Cost & Scale | Solution Brief | 2 pages |
| Enhance Cybersecurity with VAST Cyber Lakehouse 🔒 | White Paper | 6 pages |
| Real-Time Cyber Security at Scale: Inside the VAST Cyber Lakehouse 🔒 | Webinar | 49:31 |
VAST Vector Database Collateral
Product docs
Vector Search and Vector Database Index documentation lives in the VAST Database Features category of the 5.5 Administrator's Guide.
Vector search
| Title | Type | Length |
|---|---|---|
| VAST Vector Search: Real-Time AI Retrieval Without Limits | Solution Brief | 2 pages |
| The Exascale Vector Database: Unlocking the Future of AI 🔒 | White Paper | 10 pages |
| 11x Faster Vector Search at 91% Lower Cost 🔒 | White Paper | 11 pages |
| VAST Data Named a Fast Follower in Everest Group's Innovation Watch for Vector Data Platforms 🔒 | Analyst Paper | 17 pages |
| Building the World's Most Scalable Vector Database 🔒 | Webinar | 1:02:34 |
| New Release! Hyperscale Vectors, Native Pipeline Compute (VAST AI OS 5.5) 🔒 | Webinar | — |
RAG and InsightEngine (built on VAST vector search)
| Title | Type | Length |
|---|---|---|
| VAST InsightEngine | Solution Brief | 2 pages |
| AI-Powered Document Intelligence with VAST InsightEngine | Solution Brief | 2 pages |
| Real-Time AI Video Analysis with the VAST InsightEngine | Solution Brief | 2 pages |
| Introducing the VAST InsightEngine with NVIDIA: Enterprise RAG at Scale | Video | 10:06 |
| VAST InsightEngine with NVIDIA: Enterprise RAG at Scale | Video | 25:39 |
| Building the VAST InsightEngine with NVIDIA for Agentic AI | Video | 21:11 |
| From Chaos to Clarity: Solving AI Data Pipeline Challenges with the VAST Data InsightEngine 🔒 | Webinar | 58:05 |
| From Raw Footage to Real-Time Intelligence: AI Video Search with VAST InsightEngine 🔒 | Webinar | 31:50 |
| Power Enterprise AI with VAST Data InsightEngine 🔒 | Demo | 16:29 |
| Secure Retrieval Augmented Generation Demo 🔒 | Demo | 3:51 |
| Retrieval Augmented AI for Financial Asset Servicing | VAST Forward Session | 35:48 |
Related Capabilities Built on VAST DataBase
VAST Catalog
| Title | Type | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Understanding the VAST Data Catalog – An Index for Your Data 🔒 | Training Video | 5:03 |
| A Guide to Enabling the VAST Data Catalog 🔒 | Training Video | 4:15 |
| Accessing the VAST Data Catalog Using the VMS GUI 🔒 | Training Video | 9:51 |
| Accessing the VAST Data Catalog: Beyond the GUI (CLI, SDK, & Query Engines) 🔒 | Training Video | — |
| VAST Data VMS: Querying Your File System with the VAST Data Catalog 🔒 | Training Video | 3:30 |
| Customer Training Webinar – Data Catalog 🔒 | Training Video | 56:07 |
VAST Event Broker (Kafka topics as queryable tables)
| Title | Type | Length |
|---|---|---|
| VAST Event Broker | Solution Brief | 3 pages |
| Stream and Query in Real-Time 🔒 | White Paper | 11 pages |
| Breaking the Kafka Ceiling: Streaming at 136M Messages per Second with VAST 🔒 | Webinar | 30:20 |