Contents of Articles:
Introduction
When creating a complex project with a database, the question will certainly arise: which DBMS to choose? But it’s easy to get confused. We will tell you how to choose a database management system and what to pay attention to.
How To Choose
There are several criteria that can help you find the most convenient database management systems in compliance with your demands.
Project Type
It refers to the area in which this project will be applied: personal or commercial. The project type determines the criteria for comparing the DBMS.
A personal project is a kind of pet-project.Its purpose is either entertainment (for the soul) or educational. If there are no special performance requirements, then embedded DBMSs are suitable. Otherwise, free DBMS.
When it comes to commercial ones, large resources (budget, administration team) and a large number of requirements are used. It’s necessary to focus on security, reliability, speed, and performance.
What To Store
Different database management systems use different engines. Some of them are more suitable for text, others work better with media content. It is advisable to know in advance what content will be stored in the database.
Volume
Each database management system has documentation reflecting limitations on the size of one file, table, etc. If you plan to store large volumes of data, choose the most suitable solution.
Server Or File
The choice of DBMS depends on whether it should work over the network or locally. According to this principle, they are classified into two types: server and file. If you need the DBMS to 'move' with the application without installing additional software, then you should choose a file-based system such as SQLite.
Load
It is better to imagine in advance how many people or gadgets will access the database management systems simultaneously.
Scalability
This criterion is slightly related to the previous one because with a constant increase in load, the question of expansion will arise. It is not a fact that if computing resources are doubled, the database management system will also scale proportionally.
Security
If a project requires good security, you need to consider what security methods the DBMS supports, such as certificates, encryption, additional features, etc.
Fault Tolerance
Fault tolerance is the primary selection criterion in some projects. The fault tolerance of a DBMS is determined by its ability to maintain information and functionality in the event of a failure: power outage, human or software error. If the project is a small blog and the article will be lost if it fails, then this is unpleasant, but still not critical. However, the loss of information will most likely result in the loss of funds in the case of the banking system.
Free Or Fee
This criterion depends on the project budget. If it is limited, then the choice is made in favor of open-source solutions. Open-source DBMS is reliable, but you will have to provide support yourself or pay for outsourcing. The user receives support from the developers with paid DBMSs.
Developer Support
It is worth choosing those products that are being developed and improved.
Administration
Some DBMSs, for example Oracle, require qualifications to administer them. If this is unnecessary or the budget does not allow for a separate person for administration, then you should choose “easy-to-use” database management systems.
What To Choose
Let’s focus on the TOP DBMS that are currently available now.
Relational
A relational DBMS is a classic solution that is used almost everywhere. Such databases implement the relational model. It is built on the relationships between its objects.
Relational DBMS are better at processing small transactions with a high proportion of inserts and minimal response. In addition, relational databases achieve high normalization, which is necessary in projects with a complex structure.
The major player in the market of relational Database Management Systems (DBMS) is Oracle Database. It comes with a hefty price tag and can be challenging to administer, but with the right approach, it can outperform any other DBMS. Oracle Database is suitable for large-scale commercial projects requiring high performance and the ability to support such a DBMS.
If you need a free and powerful server DBMS, then MySQL may be of preference. MySQL is suitable for small and medium-sized projects. It is easy to administer and provides decent performance.
If you need a compact and embedded DBMS, you should choose file-based SQLite. This is an easy-to-learn database management system, the functionality of which is sufficient for small projects.
Key-Value
These DBMSs are a table in which a key corresponds to a value. They should be used in projects with a minimal architecture, where there is a need to return one value per key. For example, it is great for implementing caching. Redis is a popular key-value DBMS.
Documentary
Such DBMSs store objects and documents with a certain syntax.Document DBMSs should be used in projects where they are needed to store objects with different structures within one table, for example, lists and dictionaries, especially if they are close to the JSON format.
The best DBMS for storing documents are MongoDB and Couchbase.
Graph
The DBMSs are specific where information related to graphs is stored: nodes, vertices, connections, etc. Accordingly, these products must be used in systems with graphs. A widely used graph DBMS is Neo4j.
Columnar
They are similar to relational ones, but they store information in columns rather than rows.
You will have to read the entire row up to the desired column to obtain the attribute value of one of the objects in a table in relational databases. The required attribute will be read immediately. In practice, this makes it possible to speed up reading for large (one hundred million records or more) volumes.
Columnar databases are used as data warehouses with a large amount of information.
You can choose the best option taking into account the specifics of the project while knowing TOP DBMS and cases when they should be used. The most popular columnar DBMS is Cassandra.
Conclusion
Which Database Management System (DBMS) is better? It all depends on the project. We've explored approaches to choosing a DBMS, but, in many cases, any free option might suffice. Additionally, you can create a database in the 3HCloud cloud platform.
