Database Types Explained
A database is a structured collection of information, usually stored and accessed electronically via a computer system. In simple terms, a database is a collection of information that is organized into rows and columns. Databases may be very complex in nature, where multiple tables are used to represent a business. However, they are most commonly developed using more standard modeling and structural programming techniques where each database row corresponds to a function. This allows the developers to model the database as a connected and interrelated entity.
A database is one of the most important factors in any database system. It serves as the primary storage and retrieval repository for all data. A good database should provide fine grain control over how its data is organized so that the risk of corruption is minimized. Apart from this, a well-designed database should also allow for easy access to all the information in it, be it for business decision making or application usage. As such, the database system used in an organization needs to be well designed and well implemented.
Generally, there are two types of database systems: object-oriented and relational. Object-oriented databases are those that are more tightly bound to the domain being handled by the software itself. In other words, the source code is tightly tied to the database which makes it more difficult to update or add new data to the database. On the other hand, relational database are those that don’t have source code that dictates how the database will be structured. These types of databases allow for easier updates as they do not require the source code to be tightly coupled to the database.
Both the object-oriented and the relational database management systems come with their own benefits and disadvantages. On the one hand, object-oriented databases allow for convenient management of information stored in the database. On the other hand, these databases are limited in the amount of information that they can handle because they have to be updated manually whenever there is a change in the information stored.
The two different types of database systems are not mutually exclusive. There exists a hybrid database, which is the combination of both object-oriented and relational database management systems. A good database example of this type of database is the My SQL. The My SQL is a very simple example of an object-oriented database.
Another hybrid example is the application database. These databases combine the functionality of both object-oriented and relational databases. The advantage of using this type of database is that it allows the user to access information stored in both object-oriented and database management systems. It is also much more compact than the traditional RDBMSs. One drawback however is that this database type has its own drawbacks like slower performance and higher failure rate.
Graph databases, on the other hand, is a variation of the RDBMS concept. Graph database stores information about key performance indicators (KPIs) instead of information about data. As a result, the ability to make queries based on knowledge about KPIs makes graph databases much faster than traditional RDBMSs. This is however not without its own set of disadvantages. A Graph database is quite difficult to design because many concepts used in the design of a Graph database are not available for graph databases. Also, the cost of creating and deploying a graph database is much higher than for other types of databases.
One of the most recent forms of database technology, Oracle is one of the few companies that still produce a single database, called Oracle Enterprise Manager. This type of database is highly complex as it includes support for different data sources and data transformations. The result is that the developer has to use a lot of Java and shell programming languages. With a Graph database, you will see significant speedups provided by the high-performance OLE DBMS.
