Firebird 3.x introduces several new features and changes from previous versions, including true SMP support, improved APIs, per-database configuration, increased limits, multiple security databases, and new SQL commands. The Firebird executable is now unified, and the cache, lock, and connection behaviors are determined by new configuration parameters. Additional changes include support for new data types, functions, triggers, international characters, and IPv6. The database engine and plug-in architecture were also updated.