EFFICIENT STORAGE USING AUTOMATIC DATA TRANSLATION

Techniques are disclosed for automatic data translation in computing systems. Certain techniques are disclosed herein that enable applications to utilize data in optimal formats specific to each application in an effectively transparent manner, removing the burden to perform data format or type checking, conversions, etc. An automatic data translation module (ADTM) is implemented that automatically translates data as it passes between certain applications. In some embodiments, the ADTM receives a first particular format of data from a first application and automatically/transparently converts the first particular format of data into another representation of the same data, but in a second format utilized by a recipient application. The ADTM may be configured as part of a database application programming interface (API), and can translate textual versions of IP addresses into binary representations for efficient database storage, and translate returned binary representations back into textual representations for convenience and enhanced trace functionalities.