Editor’s Note Database Landscape Is Relational the Database Know Your Options Before

Is Lush, Varied Relationship You Need? Saying Yes to NoSQL

MAY 2015

Business
Information
INSIGHT ON MANAGING AND USING DATA

SPECIAL ISSUE

Different
Doors for Data
The database management systems
market is a large one already, and
bigger, more powerful options are
added all the time. But don’t settle
for less—or more.
 EDITOR’S NOTE | JASON SPARAPANI
HOME
Underneath It All
EDITOR’S NOTE
DATABASE LANDSCAPE
IS LUSH, VARIED
THINK FOR A moment about the term database man-
IS RELATIONAL
THE DATABASE
agement system. It strings together Latin and Greek
RELATIONSHIP derivatives. It has eight syllables. Now think about the
YOU NEED?
technology behind the words. It powers operational and
KNOW YOUR analytics applications; it’s the very source of business
OPTIONS BEFORE
SAYING YES TO
livelihood. For humans, a comparable resource comes to
NoSQL mind: water. One Anglo-Saxon word, two syllables.
The colorless initialism DBMS also fails to get across
the fundamental purpose database systems serve. Their
importance should never be understated—and neither
should evaluating the different categories before making
a purchase. The wrong choice can leave your data-driven
business operations feeling parched.
In this special edition of Business Information, data
management consultant and author Craig S. Mullins
gives advice on today’s database market. It’s not the one
of 30, 20, 10 or even five years ago, when the relational
database was essentially the only database in town. To-
day, large-scale Web applications, streaming video and
audio information and social media data are too much
for conventional relational systems to handle. New data
types call for radically new approaches, like storing data
in memory instead of on disk, or stepping aside from
systems based on the SQL programming language and
turning to NoSQL technologies.
2  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015
Not that relational is going anywhere. In fact, as Mul-
lins advises, “It’s wise to evaluate relational database op-
tions first.” They can be used for so many purposes: data
management and analytics applications, online transac-
tion processing and batch processing, to name a few.
But evaluating databases, relational or otherwise, isn’t
easy. Mullins recommends matching any shopping list
against criteria such as the underlying architecture or
administration requirements. Then there’s the question
of whether the job market can provide the right program-
ming skills. That becomes a critical one to answer when
considering newer, NoSQL databases.
But even if you decide to do things the NoSQL way,
which way is that? There are four product categories,
each suited to particular uses. And, Mullins warns, there
are no standards, as there are with relational systems.
Here’s another, very human analogy. Just as the body
relies on a skeletal frame to allow us our every move,
your data needs the right underlying database system for
support. Only then will it be able to deliver the informa-
tion and insight that enables you to make better business
decisions. Bones. One word, one syllable. n
What database systems are you looking into? Write to me at
jsparapani@techtarget.com.
GETTING STARTED | CRAIG S. MULLINS

DATABASE
LANDSCAPE IS The database management system

LUSH, VARIED
The variety of database products on the market
is the heart of today’s operational and
analytical business systems. Data is
is multifarious—and each system type has its own
the lifeblood of any organization, and
advantages and uses. the database is the conduit by which
data is stored, managed, secured
and served to applications and users.
Nowadays, though, there is an in-
creasing variety of database products
to consider.
Relational databases have been the norm in IT for
nearly 30 years. First developed in the 1970s, they be-
came more popular as they—and the server hardware
that they primarily ran on—became both more powerful
and more affordable, making them a practical choice for
more and more organizations. But shortcomings became
more apparent with the full computerization of business.
Today, IT departments trying to process unstructured
data or data sets with highly variable structures may
HOME want to consider NoSQL technologies. Applications

3  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015

 GETTING STARTED | CRAIG S. MULLINS
HOME that require speed or perform complex tasks can benefit
from in-memory databases. Some IT departments will
EDITOR’S NOTE want to look at combining multiple database technolo-
DATABASE LANDSCAPE
gies for certain processing needs.
IS LUSH, VARIED
The Expanding Database Galaxy
IS RELATIONAL
Until relatively recently, the relational database, or
THE DATABASE
RELATIONSHIP RDBMS, was the only database category worth con-
YOU NEED?
sidering. But big data has brought new types of worthy
KNOW YOUR
OPTIONS BEFORE
products. Also, an onslaught of new technologies and
capabilities are being added, further complicating the
SAYING YES TO
NoSQL mix. Here are the three main categories.
RDBMS. The undisputed leader continues to be the re-
lational database. It provides data storage, access and
protection with reasonable performance for most appli-
cations, whether operational or analytical. For the better
part of three decades, the primary operational database
has been relational, led by industry titans such as Oracle,
Microsoft and IBM. The RDBMS is reliable and adapt-
able to most uses; it also has been bolstered by years of
use in industry applications at organizations of all sizes.
Of course, such stability comes at a cost: Relational data-
base systems aren’t cheap.
Support for ensuring transactional atomicity, consis-
tency, isolation and durability—collectively known as
the ACID properties—is a compelling feature of rela-
tional databases. ACID compliance guarantees that all
transactions are completed correctly or that a database is
returned to its previous state if a transaction fails.
4  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015
NoSQL. Web-scale data processing and big data require-
ments challenge the capabilities of relational databases.
Products with more flexible schemas, less rigid consis-
tency models and reduced processing overhead can be
advantageous in a rapidly changing and dynamic envi-
BIG DATA AND AN ONSLAUGHT
OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES ARE
COMPLICATING THE DATABASE
LANDSCAPE.
ronment. Enter NoSQL. While the RDBMS requires
a rigidly defined schema, a NoSQL database permits a
flexible one. For loosely defined data structures that may
evolve over time, a NoSQL database can be more practi-
cal. NoSQL addresses some of the problems encountered
by relational technologies, making it simpler to work
with large amounts of unstructured data.
In-memory. Sometimes referred to as a main-memory
database system, an in-memory DBMS relies mostly on
memory to store data. The primary use for the in-mem-
ory database is to improve performance. Because data
is maintained in memory, as opposed to on a disk, I/O
latency is greatly reduced. Mechanical disk movement,
seek time and buffer transfer can be eliminated because
the data is immediately accessible.
An in-memory database can also be optimized to
 GETTING STARTED | CRAIG S. MULLINS

HOME access data in memory; a traditional DBMS is optimized columns of many rows at once. They are not optimized
to access data from a disk. In-memory products can re- for writing data.
EDITOR’S NOTE duce overhead because the internal algorithms usually
DATABASE LANDSCAPE
are simpler, with fewer CPU instructions. n  opular in the 1990s and still available from some
P
IS LUSH, VARIED vendors, object-oriented databases are designed to
More Places for Data work with object-oriented programming languages.
IS RELATIONAL
THE DATABASE
A growing category is the multi-model database system,
RELATIONSHIP which supports more than one type of storage engine. n  re-relational databases include hierarchical systems,
P
YOU NEED?
Many NoSQL products support more than one data such as IBM’s Information Management System, and
KNOW YOUR model—for example, document and key-value. And rela- network systems, like CA IDMS, running on large
OPTIONS BEFORE
SAYING YES TO
tional database products are evolving to support NoSQL mainframes.
NoSQL capabilities.
There are other DBMS categories, but they’re not What’s Next
as prevalent as relational, NoSQL and in-memory: Organizations considering a database management
system should determine what their specific needs are
n  ML databases are designed to support XML data.
X as well as examine the leading DBMS products in each
But most relational databases today provide XML category. Doing so will require more details on each of
support. the different types and a better understanding of the uses
each technology is optimized for. Indeed, there are many
n  olumnar databases are based on the SQL program-
C variables that need to be evaluated to ensure you make a
ming language and are optimized for reading a few wise decision when shopping for database software. n

5  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015

EVALUATION | CRAIG S. MULLINS

IS RELATIONAL
THE DATABASE When shopping for a database man-

RELATIONSHIP agement system, it’s wise to evalu-

YOU NEED?
For many organizations, a relational database
management system will get the job done;
others need to keep looking to fulfill their needs.
HOME
ate relational database options first.
They’re good for a wide variety of
uses, thanks partly to a sound theo-
retical foundation that helps protect
and ensure ongoing access to data
for multiple types of applications.
Relational theory, developed by E.F. Codd at IBM in
the early 1970s, is based on the mathematics of set the-
ory, which delivers rigor and accuracy to data access and
manipulation. The mathematical basis and foundational
theory of relational technology is unique in the world of
databases.
Most types of middleware, software integration prod-
ucts and management tools are available for relational
databases; that isn’t the case for other, emergent data-
base products.
Also, there are many SQL programmers available to
support development efforts for relational databases.
Most systems use SQL as a programming language.

6  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015

 EVALUATION | CRAIG S. MULLINS
HOME Perhaps the strongest capability of the relational
database is its robust implementation of transactional
EDITOR’S NOTE atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability. What are
DATABASE LANDSCAPE
known as the ACID properties guarantee that database
IS LUSH, VARIED transactions are processed reliably. When a transaction is
executed on a relational database, it will either complete,
IS RELATIONAL
THE DATABASE
producing correct and up-to-date results, or terminate.
RELATIONSHIP In either case, the resulting condition of the database will
YOU NEED?
be a consistent state.
KNOW YOUR Delivering ACID support requires processing overhead
OPTIONS BEFORE
SAYING YES TO
and can reduce data availability, because subsequent
NoSQL transactions must wait until changed data is committed
to the database. This is a fair tradeoff when dealing with
business-critical data such as financial transactions.
Banking data and other critical information must be up-
to-date and accurate at all times.
Relational Uses, Shortcomings
Most traditional data management and analysis applica-
tions, including online transaction processing, batch pro-
cessing, mixed workloads and business intelligence, are
valid uses for relational databases. They’re also the prime
choice for consistent data structures and definitions and
for processing traditional data types such as numbers,
dates and alphanumeric values.
But relational systems can struggle to keep up with
applications that call for many different types and
amounts of data. Social media data, streaming audio
and video, and information from the Internet of Things
all require more flexibility than traditional relational
7  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015
databases can comfortably support.
Of course, there are additional areas of concern when
considering whether to buy a relational database. One
of the biggest hurdles is the high cost of acquisition. The
purchase price ranges from several thousand dollars to
more than $1 million, depending on the amount of data
that needs handling or the size of the computer the data-
base will run on.
Feature bloat is another issue. Although they have ro-
bust, time-tested functionality, relational databases also
come with built-in features that may not be needed. Such
features can be difficult to learn how to use and sup-
port—and they can bog down performance.
And relational databases require a rigid schema. All
of the columns must be predefined with a specific data
type and length before a table can be used. Newer,
NoSQL database systems don’t have such a requirement,
allowing developers to adapt schemas based on changing
data needs.
What to Look For
When evaluating any type of database management sys-
tem, IT directors should keep several standard criteria
top of mind.
n Architecture. Relational database architecture is
suitable for most data management needs but can be
problematic for projects requiring flexible schemas or
complex inter-relationships between data elements.
(Continued on page 9)
 EVALUATION | CRAIG S. MULLINS
HOME
EDITOR’S NOTE Surveying the Landscape
DATABASE LANDSCAPE
IS LUSH, VARIED TRENDS SUCH AS open source software, in-memory
processing and cloud computing have influenced the
IS RELATIONAL
THE DATABASE
range of available relational database systems.
RELATIONSHIP
YOU NEED?
n Multiple editions. Many relational database prod-
KNOW YOUR ucts are available in multiple editions with varying
OPTIONS BEFORE
functionality. The best approach is to work with the
SAYING YES TO
NoSQL vendor to understand the capabilities of each edi-
tion—and then choose the one that supports the fea-
tures you need.
n New capabilities and features. One of the more re-
cent capabilities is hybrid database engine support,
or the ability to use multiple data structures and
access techniques. For example, the core relational
database engine may be replaced or augmented by a
column store or a NoSQL document store.
n Open source options. Although the relational data-
base market is driven by huge technology companies,
there are also open source options for organizations
wary of dealing with large vendors or for those that
need a more cost-conscious approach. Some of the
open source options are fully functional database
products, whereas others are scaled-down. Open
8  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015
source options sometimes lack core functionality,
such as referential integrity.
n In-memory data management. Data is stored and
manipulated in memory instead of on disk. This can
significantly improve data access performance.
Some relational databases are built entirely for
in-memory processing; others have adapted existing
capabilities to operate in memory.
n The cloud. As companies store more data, data-
base systems that store information in the cloud are
pervading. Many cloud database options are of the
NoSQL variety, but relational vendors increasingly of-
fer cloud database capabilities and services, too. One
option is to subscribe to a database as a service—a
provider hosts your data on its cloud database plat-
form. This can be a lower-cost option overall for small
and midsize businesses looking to take advantage of
enterprise database capabilities.
n Database appliances. Appliances combine ready-
to-be-de­ployed hardware and software. The biggest
benefit of the database appliance is its turnkey pack-
aging: You buy it and plug it in, and it works. —C.M.
 EVALUATION | CRAIG S. MULLINS
HOME (Continued from page 7)
n Administration requirements. Backup and recovery,
EDITOR’S NOTE change management and performance management are
DATABASE LANDSCAPE
crucial administrative capabilities. Relational database
IS LUSH, VARIED products offer good built-in administration functionality;
there are also many add-on products available.
IS RELATIONAL
THE DATABASE
RELATIONSHIP n Deployment. Installation requirements, prerequisite
YOU NEED?
hardware and software and virtualization support are all
KNOW YOUR factors that need to be taken into account in evaluating
OPTIONS BEFORE
SAYING YES TO
relational database systems.
NoSQL
n Availability of skilled personnel. Gauge the avail-
ability and skill levels of database administrators and
application developers. Consider years of experience
and technical certifications. It’s easier to hire people
who have relational database skills; people who have ex-
perience with other, nascent database technologies are
harder to find.
n Performance and benchmarking. This is one of the
most important components of measuring the poten-
tial effectiveness of a database management system.
It’s also notoriously difficult to gather appropriate per-
formance details. Standard benchmarks are available
Want to learn from the Transaction Processing Performance Council,
more about
relational
a nonprofit whose mission it is to distribute objective
databases? performance data to the industry. But benchmarks ar-
Check out this
online guide.
en’t usually reliable indicators of the performance of
end-user implementations. And some vendors—Oracle,
9  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015
notably—contractually prohibit their customers from
publishing performance details about their database ap-
plications. The best course of action is to review the pub-
lished benchmarks and ask vendors to provide reference
customers.
n Scalability. Since a database system is a long-term
investment, it must be able to manage growth in data,
users or processes. An application should be able to par-
tition data across nodes in a distributed system. Database
managers should know how the product adapts to up-
graded hardware, and they should know its architectural
limits. Relational database systems offer good scalability,
but for very large amounts of data, alternative database
products may be more suitable.
n Fault tolerance. A database system should be able to
withstand coding and logic errors without failing. And it
requires multiple components to deliver processing ser-
vices. A fault-tolerant system should be able to continue
operating, possibly at a reduced level, when one of its
components fails.
The relational database is the lynchpin of most exist-
ing IT systems and applications, and will continue to rule
the database realm for years to come. Although some of
the largest technology companies in IT dominate here,
the market is far from simple. Understanding the range
of relational databases requires more than a high-level re-
view of what IBM, Microsoft and Oracle have to offer. n
TRENDS | CRAIG S. MULLINS

KNOW YOUR
OPTIONS NoSQL database technology rep-

BEFORE SAYING resents the fastest-growing type of

YES TO NoSQL
A broad range of nouveau database systems can be
helpful for organizations that need to crunch large
volumes of unstructured, fast-moving data—but there’s
a lot to look out for.
database management systems being
adopted today. It describes a broad
category of database systems that
have dramatically different
capabilities and uses.
Coined in the late 1990s, the term originally meant,
quite literally, “no SQL.” Over time, as the practicality
of exposing data to a SQL interface became apparent,
NoSQL morphed in meaning to “not only SQL.” Today,
NoSQL databases are considered next-generation da-
tabases, as they’re generally nonrelational, distributed,
open source and horizontally scalable.
There are four main types of NoSQL databases.

n A key-value database is ideal when data is accessed

using a key—like looking up a book by its International
Standard Book Number. Here, the ISBN is the key and
the value is the rest of the information about the book.
HOME The key must be known and can therefore be queried,

10  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015

 TRENDS | CRAIG S. MULLINS
HOME but the value is a blob of meaningless data that must be
interpreted after it has been read.
EDITOR’S NOTE
DATABASE LANDSCAPE
n A document database manages and stores data at the
IS LUSH, VARIED document level. It’s similar to a key-value database, but
a structure is imposed on the data. Instead of the value
IS RELATIONAL
THE DATABASE
component being a blob of data, the data is described in
RELATIONSHIP a document structure, typically JSON or XML. A docu-
YOU NEED?
ment database can be queried by any component of its
KNOW YOUR defined schema, while a key-value database can be que-
OPTIONS BEFORE
SAYING YES TO
ried only by its key.
NoSQL
n A column database, also known as a column store or
wide column store, reorients the focus of the data from
the row to the column, storing data as sections of col-
umns rather than as rows. With traditional relational da-
tabases, data is modeled as rows of columns with access
always by row. The NoSQL wide column store manages
records in “families” capable of holding a large number
of dynamic columns. There is no fixed schema, meaning
column names and keys can vary. A column database is
suitable when writes are uncommon, ACID properties—
atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability—aren’t a
hard requirement and the schema is variable.
n A graph database focuses on relationships between
values and stores data using a graph structure with
nodes, edges and properties to represent and store data.
Every element contains a direct pointer to its adjacent
element, and index lookups are unnecessary.
11  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015
The Weighing Game
So why consider a NoSQL database instead of a relational
one? Perhaps the greatest strength of a NoSQL system
is its decentralized, scalable, fault-tolerant nature. Most
NoSQL database technology is implemented to scale and
survive outages.
While relational databases are engineered to be prac-
tical for various uses, NoSQL databases are designed for
specific uses. By embracing polyglot persistence—the
concept of using different database systems for different
applications and uses—an organization can choose the
database technology that best suits a particular use.
Also, most NoSQL products are lightweight and there-
fore require less overhead than relational systems do.
And there’s less functionality than in most relational
databases, which are designed for a broader set of uses.
So a NoSQL database will require less code, which poten-
tially confers a performance benefit over a more complex
system.
Of course, NoSQL has its disadvantages. First, the
many differences in the range of options make evaluating
NoSQL systems difficult. There are different architec-
tures for the different NoSQL database types, and even
for the products in each category. Also, there are no
standards, including no standard way of accessing data.
This means specific tools and APIs must be adopted and
learned to use a NoSQL database.
Another issue is ACID support, which is standard for
relational database management systems but nonexistent
in many NoSQL systems today. One of the early selling
 TRENDS | CRAIG S. MULLINS

HOME points for NoSQL was that it supported transactions of support could keep prospective buyers away.
that didn’t require full ACID support, thereby slimming And there’s also the lack of support for the SQL pro-
EDITOR’S NOTE down the database and improving performance. But gramming language. In its 40-year-plus lifespan, SQL
DATABASE LANDSCAPE
many applications rely on ACID compliance, so a lack has become the lingua franca of data access. A database
IS LUSH, VARIED

IS RELATIONAL
THE DATABASE
RELATIONSHIP
YOU NEED?
There’s a NoSQL Database for That
KNOW YOUR THE RAISON D’ÊTRE for NoSQL is to apply data per-
OPTIONS BEFORE
sistence techniques that are well-suited for specific
SAYING YES TO
NoSQL uses. Let’s examine each of the four database de-
signs and what they’re suitable for.
n Key-value. Designed for the high-availability,
low-latency requirements of applications in fields like
gaming, retail and mobile. A flexible schema makes
key-value databases good for serving ad content and
managing user or product profiles. They aren’t good
for managing complex relationships between differ-
ent sets of data.
n Document. Stores different types of data in doc-
ument-like structures. Document databases have a
flexible schema and allow for searching across all
of the data. They work well for event logging, online
Check out this shopping, content management and in-depth analyt-
online guide for ical processing. They aren’t well-suited for complex
more on NoSQL
databases.
transaction processing or for applications that re-
quire data aggregation.
n Column store. Useful when writes are rare and
there’s a need to read a few columns of many rows
at once. Column stores work well for event logging,
content management and both counting and catego-
rizing data for analytics. They’re also good with ex-
piring data; a column can be set up to automatically
expire. Column stores aren’t well-suited for ACID
transactions.
n Graph. Designed for interconnected data elements.
The most common use is for a social media network,
such as LinkedIn or Facebook. Another is to support
a recommendation engine, such as those used by
online retail sites. Graph databases aren’t well-suited
for frequently changing data and real-time updates
across large amounts of data. —C.M.

12  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015

 TRENDS | CRAIG S. MULLINS

HOME that doesn’t support SQL requires developers to learn

different techniques to access its data. Some NoSQL da-
EDITOR’S NOTE tabases have added SQL capabilities, though usually not
DATABASE LANDSCAPE
as full-featured as in relational databases. So don’t expect
IS LUSH, VARIED to take a relational SQL query and run it on a NoSQL da-
tabase without making significant changes. Business Information is a
IS RELATIONAL
THE DATABASE SearchDataManagement.com e-publication.
RELATIONSHIP First Steps Into NoSQL Land
YOU NEED? Jason Sparapani, Managing Editor
Although NoSQL database technology enjoys a lot of
KNOW YOUR market awareness today, the landscape is still crowded, Moriah Sargent, Associate Managing Editor
OPTIONS BEFORE
confusing and rapidly changing. Understanding this
SAYING YES TO Amy Novotny, Senior Products Editor
NoSQL new set of databases requires digging into multiple types
of database engines. Choosing the wrong system for a Craig Stedman, Executive Editor

project can ultimately cause it to fail. The news is not

Linda Koury, Director of Online Design
all grim, though. NoSQL systems offer advantages when
deployed on appropriate projects—and more and more Doug Olender, Publisher, dolender@techtarget.com

organizations are taking them on. n Annie Matthews, Director of Sales,

CRAIG S. MULLINS is a data management strategist, researcher, con-
sultant and author with more than 30 years of experience in database
systems development. He is president and principal consultant at Mul-
lins Consulting Inc. and publisher and editor of TheDatabaseSite.com.
Email him at craig@craigmullins.com.
Stay connected with us on social media.
Facebook LinkedIn
amatthews@techtarget.com
TechTarget, 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466
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13  BUSINESS INFORMATION • MAY 2015