Author(s): Bhavesh Agone Originally published on Towards AI. Data is the foundation of how today’s websites and apps function. Items in your shopping carts, comments on all your posts, and changing scores in a video game are examples of information stored somewhere in a database. Which begs the question what is a database? In a broad context, a database is any logically modeled collection of information but in the context of websites it is an essential component that enables websites to store, manage, and retrieve all kinds of data efficiently making the websites dynamic. Types of Databases: There are many different types of databases. The performance of the website is directly proportional to whether or not the developers have selected the right database to meet the needs and scales of the website operations 1. Relational databases — The name comes from the way data is stored in the form of related tables, developed by IBM in the 1970s. Since then, it has been helping businesses organize, manage and relate data. The tables store data in the form of rows and columns. These relational databases are compliant with the ACID properties and work well with structured data. To create, update, and manage a relational database, we use a relational database management system that most commonly runs on Structured Query Language (SQL). These databases offer consistency through their well-structured schemas but fail to scale very well 2. NoSQL databases — NoSQL is a vast category that includes all databases that do not use SQL as their primary data access language. Contrary to relational databases, these do not conform to a pre-defined schema, operate in distributed clusters, and store unstructured or semi-structured data thus they are also referred to as non-relational databases. These databases do not comply with ACID properties which poses a threat to the consistency of the data stored in the database. Developers use non-relational databases for applications that need to scale efficiently and quickly because of their ability to process large volumes of data with very low latency. 3. New SQL databases — NewSQL is a modern form of relational database system that sits between SQL and NoSQL. Coined in 2011, it was designed to function in distributed clusters similar to NoSQL databases, they have a relational model that complies with ACID properties and supports SQL query semantics. Therefore offering capabilities to handle large volumes of data in real time, without sacrificing consistency or reliability. NewSql is still a newer technology, so it may not have a complete arsenal of tools and functionalities provided by preexisting systems. Factors To Consider When Selecting Database (Relational vs NoSQL) For Web Applications: 1. Data Model And Schema Flexibility Relational Databases: These are the best for structured data, with predefined schemas and complicated relationships between entities. NoSQL Databases: Designed for semi-structured or unstructured data that have flexible schemas, enabling quick development and schema evolution. 2. Scalability Requirements Relational Databases: Hardware resources typically limit vertical scalability while horizontal scalability might require complex sharding or replication setups. NoSQL Databases: Have been designed to be horizontally scalable so as to allow you distribute your data across multiple nodes effortlessly. 3. Performance Considerations Relational Databases: Optimized for transactional workloads that need ACID compliance; suitable for applications requiring complex queries and joins. NoSQL Databases: Targeted towards high throughput and low latency during read/write operations, which makes them perfect for real-time analytics, caching, high volume transactional workloads etc. 4. Consistency And Availability Relational Databases: Emphasize strong consistency and ACID transactions at the cost of possible performance and availability trade-offs to ensure data integrity. NoSQL Databases: They prioritize availability as well as partition tolerance over strong consistency in order to provide eventual consistency model for distributed systems. 5. Development and Maintenance Complexity Relational Databases: They require strict adherence to defined schemas, complex normalization, and querying using SQL. For applications with well-defined data structures and multi-faceted relationships. NoSQL Databases: That is why they tend to have more flexible schemas as well as simpler query languages for reducing development overheads, enabling agile iterations. 6. Use Case and Workload Patterns Relational Databases: However, they work best for architectures with transactional requirements, complex data relationships, and strong consistency such as these found in e-commerce platforms, financial systems or ERP applications. NoSQL Databases: Furthermore NoSQL databases are ideally suited for use cases that involve rapid prototyping where there is an urgent need for scalability at a given point in time or real-time analytics or unstructured/semi-structured data like social networks, IoT platforms or content management systems. Some of the databases in Web Technology: A database is necessary for every organization in order to organize and keep its core information. A database management system software comes to the rescue to offer such a service. The rise of microservices, cloud distributed apps, semi-structured data, big data, low latency data, and so forth has led to the addition of various NoSQL, NewSQL, and cloud databases to the traditional SQL list of the most popular databases. Some of the databases for use with web applications are listed here: 1. MySQL: MySQL is a dependable database that has gained popularity as a result of web developers’ relentless pursuit of stability and rapid development.The most recent version of MySQL, version 8.0, cannot be covered by the free SQL database and is written in C and C++.Because of its functional characteristics, flexible GPL license, and updated versions, MySQL became widely used very quickly. 2. MariaDB: An RDMS that complies with the MySQL standard is MariaDB. You can switch your MySQL server with it rather often without having to change the code.Compared to MySQL, it is more concentrated on the local area network.It is a structure that makes working with large datasets faster and easier by providing columnar capacity with widely distributed parallel data. 3. Oracle: Oracle is a well-liked database for web applications because of its remarkable performance, scalability, and flexibility. It comes with a popular RDBMS and built-in low-level programming languages including Java, C, and C++.It processes data faster and requires less […]
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