Chain Table: In-Database Data Integrity without Full Blockchain. → Research

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Briefing

The core research problem addresses the technical complexity and overhead associated with implementing full blockchain systems solely for database data integrity. This paper proposes a foundational breakthrough → the “chain table,” an in-database design that applies Digital Ledger Technology principles to protect data without requiring a complete blockchain infrastructure. This novel mechanism, coupled with specific data writing principles, guarantees flexible table-level data integrity (TDI). The most important implication is enabling rigorous data security within existing database systems, offering a succinct, efficient, and less resource-intensive alternative for verifiable data immutability and auditability.

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Context

Before this research, ensuring robust data integrity often necessitated either reliance on centralized database management systems, which are vulnerable to single points of failure and tampering, or the deployment of full-fledged blockchain systems. While blockchains offer decentralized, immutable record-keeping, their implementation can introduce significant technical barriers, computational overhead, and storage requirements, making them impractical for many existing database applications where only specific integrity guarantees are paramount. The prevailing theoretical limitation was the lack of a lightweight, in-database mechanism that could imbue traditional databases with blockchain-like integrity properties without the full architectural burden.

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Analysis

The paper’s core mechanism, the “chain table,” fundamentally redefines how data integrity is achieved within a database. It functions as an in-database design that digitally entangles block data, drawing inspiration from blockchain’s chain data structure. Unlike traditional database tables, the chain table integrates cryptographic linking, where each new record’s integrity is cryptographically dependent on its predecessors. This is enforced through a set of “data writing principles” that dictate how data is appended and linked, ensuring that any unauthorized alteration to a record would invalidate subsequent records in the chain.

This approach differs from previous methods by embedding DLT principles directly into the database schema and operation, providing table-level data integrity (TDI) without the need for a distributed consensus mechanism or a separate, external blockchain network. It offers a succinct design, minimizing technology barriers and storage overhead.

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Parameters

Core Concept → Table-Level Data Integrity (TDI)
New System/Mechanism → Chain Table
Key Authors → Feng Yu et al.
Publication Platform → arXiv
Publication Date → 2025-07-18

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Outlook

The “chain table” concept opens new avenues for integrating robust data integrity into enterprise systems without the full overhead of blockchain. Future research will likely explore optimizing these data writing principles for various database architectures and extending TDI to support more complex transactional semantics. Potential real-world applications in 3-5 years include verifiable audit trails in financial systems, secure supply chain data logging within existing ERPs, and immutable record-keeping for sensitive regulatory compliance data, all without migrating to a full blockchain. This theory could unlock a hybrid approach, allowing traditional databases to selectively adopt DLT’s strongest integrity guarantees.

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Verdict

This research decisively establishes a novel, lightweight paradigm for data integrity, enabling traditional databases to achieve blockchain-like immutability without full architectural overhaul.

Signal Acquired from → arXiv.org