NoSQL databases, also known as SQL, are usually non-tabular databases that store data differently concerning relational databases. NoSQL database helps developers eliminate the complex tabular storage of data and simplifies working with the data. NoSQL solves the problem of storing big data and has various other advantages that attract most developers to use NoSQL.
NoSQL provides you with fast performance and supports horizontal scalability. It also supports query language. Thus, anyone with a good knowledge of query language can make most of NoSQL. It is known as schema less. It stores multiple documents in one collection. All these documents may be of different content, the number of fields, and the size of the documents. NoSQL has a clear structure of a single object. It has no complex joins and supports deep queries. Hence, it helps in better performance.
NoSQL is found easy to use, easily scalable, and is hugely faster than relational database management. It is beneficial to use NoSQL when you are dealing with significant and complex data. NoSQL has better content management and delivery in the case of big data. In the case of relational database management, you have to consider tables as the storing elements, whereas in NoSQL, it is used as a collection. NoSQL is a document-oriented database that is written in BSON format, which is similar to JSON format.
NoSQL is often known for its flexible schemas and fast queries. Developers prefer NoSQL over traditional database management systems when dealing with extensive data. Thus, it provides ease of use for the developers. Types of NoSQL databases include:
Key-value databases
These databases are the more straightforward types of databases that contain keys and values for each data.
Document databases
These databases store data similar to JSON objects. They contain pairs of fields and values. These values can be of various types like numbers, booleans, strings, arrays, etc.
Graph Databases
These types of databases store data in nodes and edges. Nodes store the information, whereas edges specify the relation between these nodes.
Wide column stores
These types of databases contain data in tables, rows, and dynamic columns.
NoSQL database is used by almost every industry. It first came into the picture when the most known companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc utilized NoSQL. It helped them to resolve the issue of storing and retrieving a large amount of data. Compared to NoSQL, the traditional relational database system becomes expensive, and it is not an efficient way of storing a large volume of data. NoSQL works with BLOBS or self-contained aggregates.
NoSQL doesn’t involve object-relational mapping and normalization of data. There are not many complex features in NoSQL, which makes it easier for developers to use. NoSQL is schema-free, and if required, it may have a simple schema based on the requirements. It is known for its heterogeneous structure of the data in the same domain. NoSQL offers simple user interfaces for data querying and storage. It supports distributed system. You can run multiple NoSQL databases and execute them in a distributed manner.
NoSQL owns auto-scaling and fail-over capabilities. ACID concepts are sometimes ignored for throughput and scalability. The most preferred data retrieval mechanism for NoSQL is REST-based data retrieval. Very often, you may have listened to the CAP theorem whenever you speak about NoSQL. The CAP theorem, also known as brewer’s theorem, states that a distributed system can’t offer more than two out of three guarantees. They are availability, consistency, and partition tolerance.
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