Blog | Product Launches | February 20, 2026 | 4 min read

Actian Ingres 12.1: Modern. Secure. Connected.

By Emma McGrattan

#AI #Data Observability #Ingres
actian ingres 12.1

By Emma McGrattan

#AI #Data Observability #Ingres

Summary

  • Ingres 12.1 strengthens reliability for mission-critical systems under modern security demands.
  • Adds transparent encryption and TLS 1.3 without application or schema changes.
  • Introduces real-time change data capture for streaming analytics and AI pipelines.
  • Delivers engine-level observability with OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, and Grafana support.
  • Enables analytics and AI on transactional data without copying or moving it.
In this post:

People don’t choose Actian Ingres because it’s fashionable. They choose it because it runs the systems that cannot fail. Government payroll. Transportation networks. Manufacturing control systems. High-volume transaction processing that has to work every time, quietly and predictably.

That hasn’t changed.

What has changed is the environment around those systems. Security expectations are higher. Audits are more intrusive. Data locked inside operational databases is increasingly expected to feed analytics, AI, and downstream services in near real time. And operational teams are under pressure to deliver deeper visibility without bolting on fragile tooling.

Ingres 12.1 is our response to that reality.

This release is not about reinventing Ingres. It’s about strengthening it—so the database you already trust can continue to serve as a dependable system of record and participate safely in a more connected, observable, and AI-aware enterprise architecture.

Securing the Foundation: Transparent Encryption, Done Properly

Modern security is no longer perimeter-based. Auditors expect data to be protected at rest, in motion, and by design.

In Ingres 12.1, we’ve introduced full transparent encryption for disk blocks and transaction logs, using the same proven encryption engine that powers our high-performance analytics platforms. This isn’t a bolt-on or a workaround—it’s integrated at the storage layer, with a master-key architecture designed for enterprise compliance requirements.

The most important detail is also the simplest: nothing changes for your applications. No schema changes. No OpenROAD rewrites. No SQL refactoring. You secure the data and meet audit requirements without destabilizing production systems.

We’ve also modernized client-server communication with TLS 1.3, ensuring encrypted, authenticated data in motion that aligns with today’s security baselines. 

Opening the System of Record: Real-Time Change Data Capture

Ingres has always been a system of record. Increasingly, that record needs to be shared—safely and continuously—with analytics platforms, AI pipelines, and operational services.

Ingres 12.1 introduces a new Log Reader API that exposes transactional change events directly from the database engine. In practical terms, this turns Ingres into a first-class source for real-time streaming architectures.

To make that immediately useful, we’re incubating a certified Debezium connector that streams inserts, updates, and deletes directly into platforms like Kafka or Spark. This enables patterns that were previously difficult or operationally risky: keeping data lakes current without batch jobs, synchronizing microservices in near real time, or feeding AI pipelines with fresh operational data—without adding load to production systems.

This is about unlocking value from the data you already have, without compromising stability.

Operational Visibility That Respects Reality

There’s a lot of noise in the market around “data observability,” usually focused on analytics pipelines, lineage graphs, and AI-driven insights. That matters—but it’s not what keeps the lights on.

DBAs and operations teams need engine-level visibility. They need to know how the database is behaving right now.

Ingres 12.1 introduces Actian Monitor, a focused observability solution built on OpenTelemetry standards. It provides real-time access to logs and metrics, integrates out of the box with Prometheus and Grafana, and fits cleanly into modern operations tooling.

This isn’t about abstract dashboards or AI-assisted guesses. It’s about seeing the engine breathe—so teams can diagnose issues, tune performance, and maintain uptime with confidence.

Analytics and AI – Without Moving the Data

Operational data doesn’t stop being valuable just because it lives in a transactional system.

Ingres 12.1 introduces a preview capability that allows the high-performance X100 analytics engine to execute directly against transactional tables. That means faster analytics without copying data, building shadow pipelines, or introducing latency.

We’ve also added native TensorFlow support, enabling AI models—such as fraud detection or anomaly scoring—to execute where the data already lives. Combined with dynamic memory scaling, this allows teams to adjust resources on the fly, without downtime or service restarts.

This is about reducing architectural friction: fewer moving parts, fewer failure modes, and faster time to insight.

Availability and Deployment Flexibility

Ingres environments are diverse, and we respect that.

Ingres 12.1 is available today on Linux (RHEL, SUSE, Ubuntu) and Windows. For teams modernizing deployment pipelines, we’re also providing a containerized image designed for Kubernetes-based orchestration.

Built to Endure and to Evolve

Ingres 12.1 is a release that respects why you chose Ingres in the first place—stability, predictability, and trust—while giving you the tools to meet modern security, observability, and integration demands.

I encourage you to download it, run it in your environment, and evaluate how it helps you extract more value from the data your business already depends on.

Slán go fóill,
Emma