Flexmonster 3.0: Data Volume
Back in Flexmonster 2.9, we often recommended using Flexmonster Data Server (FDS) when dealing with datasets that got over the 1GB mark. It was optional, but necessary for those who want better performance in certain cases.
With Flexmonster 3.0, this changes.
What’s new?
In the latest release, the server-side component becomes a core part of the architecture.
📌 Why? Because the demands have shifted. You are working with bigger data, — we’ve built the infrastructure to match that. The new Flexmonster server side has been heavily optimized to handle data volumes that were previously out of reach for any browser-based reporting tool, not just Flexmonster 2.9:
- Over 10GB of raw data? Not a problem.
- Up to 100 million rows? Still smooth.
- Instant interaction on the client side, regardless of dataset size.
Why does the server matter so much?
While modern browsers can do a lot, they can’t do everything, especially when it comes to working with tens of gigabytes of data in memory. We greatly improved the way our component handles large data on the client side, but there’s a natural limit to how much can be processed this way.
That’s why we moved critical data handling logic to the server and received a tool:
- optimized for memory and speed,
- capable of connecting to multiple data sources,
- designed to deliver a fast, low-latency experience.
How does it compare to others?
Several pivot grid libraries on the market claim “big data support,” but most of them cap out at a few million rows or a couple of gigabytes — and typically with delays or freezes.
Everyone has their own opinion on what “big” in big data means. Our vision is what you can see in the table below:
| Dataset size | Amount of rows | Load time on the server | UI behavior |
| 150 MB | ~5.6 million | 8 seconds | Instant rendering, instant interaction |
| 1.6 GB | ~11 million | ~1 min (server) | Instant rendering, instant interaction |
| 10.2 GB | ~170 million | 7 minutes | Instant rendering, instant interaction |
| 31 GB | ~82 million | 16 minutes | Instant rendering, instant interaction |
Flexmonster 3.0 is currently one of the few (if not the only) pivot tools that can handle such hard scenarios, but also keeps the performance level high no matter what.
In the previous article, we shared with you a video with a performance comparison of Excel and Flexmonster on different file sizes. Below, you can see a table demonstrating the results for several other tools, including Flexmonster and Excel:
| Dataset size | Amount of records | Tool | Load time | UI behavior |
| 150 MB | 5.6 million | Flexmonster | 8 seconds | Instant rendering |
| 150 MB | 5.6 million | Excel | 1 minute | Laggy, choppy scroll |
| 150 MB | 5.6 million | Numbers | ⚠ Truncated | Displays only partial data |
With Flexmonster 3.0, handling “big data” isn’t a special case — it’s a standard use case:
- A 150 MB file loads on a server in about 8 seconds.
- A 1.6 GB dataset is fully interactive within a minute.
- A 31 GB dataset was handled with only 13 GB of RAM and remained fully usable in the browser.
- And the best part – regardless of file size, on the client side, everything happens instantly!
What’s next?
With this shift, Flexmonster is no longer a purely client-side tool — and that’s a strength!
With a new powerful server Flexmonster 3.0 got a fast, scalable architecture that supports:
- Massive datasets from different data sources,
- Instant client-side interaction,
- Real-time dashboards with multiple sources.
And we’re just getting started!