IT Research
NoSQL Databases
NoSQL is a new database management system that has just recently replaced relational database management systems. With social media platforms and the use of the Internet, volumes of data are growing dramatically every year and companies are being forced to move into cloud or virtualized environments to store their data. Companies can no longer deal with the financial burden of buying increased hardware and are choosing to adopt new database technologies. This type of system provides exceptional performance and scalability. NoSQL is used to manage large volumes of data that do not follow a fixed database schema. NoSQL uses non-relational data stores and avoids the use of joined operations. It is designed to query collections of documents with loosely defined fields rather than tables, fields, and columns. NoSQL uses unstructured query language rather than the traditional SQL structured query language. In Data Analytics, we are being taught how to use SQL database management systems. We are being taught how SQL works and how to develop the correct queries to obtain specific information from that database. This topic is extremely important, because NoSQL database management systems are becoming more and more popular in todays world. Students are being taught SQL has evolved in NoSQL and companies are now starting to make the transition to NoSQL. Companies like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have adopted this type of database management system after dealing with a number of challenges with huge quantities of data being stored in relational database management systems such as SQL. These social media sites use NoSQL to manage unstructured information that is created from there millions of users. Facebook uses NoSQL for comments, likes, and posts while twitter uses NoSQL for tweets, followers, and retweets. Also, LinkedIn uses NoSQL for connections, updates, and recommendations. NoSQL accurately stores unstructured data in a flexible way and is specifically designed to scale across a very large number of machines.
Works Cited
Harrison, Guy. “10 Things You Should Know About NoSQL Databases”. TechRepublic. CBS Interactive, 26 August 2010. Web. 26 April 2012. < http://www.techrepub