How to Determine which Database is Best for your Web App?

Databases basically store information that is organized and processed in such a way that you can easily access, manage and update them. While we come into contact with databases all the time in the form of employee records, library card catalogues, phone books or financial records, we are here to look at databases in the context of websites. In other words, how databases can be the foundation for information-rich and dynamic websites and how we should decide which one suits our business website needs.

Building websites that are data-driven

Before we begin, let us put a glance on what do you mean by relational databases and database management systems. Relational data model was the foundation for modern database technology that began in the 1970s, and now they play pivotal role in the building of powerful data-driven websites. Server-side scripting, HTML and CSS, SQL – database language and a database management system (DBMS) are prerequisites for websites fetching and displaying data from a database. To address the challenges of Big Data, evolved the non-relational database which is a deviation from the traditional relational database model.

Relational databases

These databases are great at organizing and retrieving structured data and they primarily consist of two or more tables with connected information, each table with rows and columns. These connected tables are called database objects and you need a relational database management system (RDBMS) in order to create and manage them. For instance, you have an eCommerce website and a customer wants to know the shipment status on an order placed a couple of days ago. Your e-commerce database will generate a report with data from the tables by linking them together as follows:

“[Customer]’s order of [product] purchased with a [payment method] on [purchase date] is already being shipped to [address] via [method] and is due to arrive on [tracking date].”

Furthermore, RDBMS enables SQL Server Application Development Specialists to create and maintain a database program including a built-in programming language, SQL, which facilitates to automate the database functions.

Accessing databases with SQL

SQL stands for Structured Query Language and is utilized for accessing and manipulating databases. It is a standardized programming language but does have a number of variations including few databases’ own proprietary SQL extensions. SQL writes programming to manage data and streamline data processing in RDBMS like MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, or IMB DM2. It mainly carries out the following functions:

• Executing queries that are questions asked of the database.

• Retrieving data from the database

• Setting permissions

• Editing data which includes inserting, deleting, updating, or creating new records

• Creating views and even new databases

When you consider creating new databases from the scratch it is recommended to consult with our team of SQL Server Application Development Experts. This is because, how your database is structured will largely impact the health of your website over time.

NoSQL – Non-relational and distributed databases

When your data is not structured or rather say, it is inconsistent, massive or incomplete then non-relational and distributed databases come in the picture providing a flexible database solution. This is also known as NoSQL which means “Not only SQL”. Modern data gathered from the web is an ideal example of unstructured data and NoSQL is effectively addressing it by deviating from the traditional relational model.

Unlike relational databases, NoSQL databases are document-oriented. It stores unstructured data including photos, articles, videos, social media data or a complete blog post in a single document which are not categorized into pre-set fields. Thus, it demands extra processing effort and more storage than its structured counterpart. Hence, modern businesses struggling with the challenges of Big Data often integrate Hadoop, an open-source computing platform, into their database platforms.

Hope you now have a basic idea about relational database, non-relational database and SQL. In order to build and maintain database systems for powering your business website, which can literally get quite complicated, get in touch with us; we are an SQL Application Development Agency committed towards delivering client satisfaction.