Data management has become an increasingly important aspect of all industries. As technology progresses, so does the amount of data that can be collected and the different types.
As ‘The Cooling Conundrum’ outlines, data centers are currently struggling with the intensifying demands of digitalization, artificial Intelligence (AI), and automation. Due to their flexibility and storage capabilities, NoSQL databases have become a staple for many businesses in order to effectively collect and store this data. As more companies invest in these databases, a ‘NoSQL Database Market’ report found that by 2030, the market will be worth $47.39 billion. In this article, we will examine what a NoSQL Database is and why the future looks so promising.
What is a NoSQL Database
NoSQL stands for not only SQL and stores data in a different way. SQL (structured query language) databases are table-based and are vertically scaled. The data in SQL is organized into tables called relation databases. These relational databases are organized into rows and columns, where the columns represent the attribute for a certain table, and a row represents the actual value of this attribute. In contrast, NoSQL databases come in a selection of types based on their data model.
As per the MongoDB article ‘What is NoSQL?’, the main types are document, key-value, wide-column, and graph. A document database stores data in documents similar to JSON objects, each containing pairs of fields and values. The values can be various data types, including strings, numbers, booleans, and arrays. A key-value store is a database where each item contains keys and values. Each key is unique and associated with a single value.
Wide-column databases store data in tables, rows, and dynamic columns. However, compared to traditional SQL databases, wide-column stores are flexible, and different rows can have different sets of columns. A graph database stores data in the form of nodes and edges. These nodes typically store info on people, places, and things, while edges store information on the relationships between the nodes. These databases provide flexible schemas and scale easily with large amounts of big data and high user loads.
The Future of NoSQL Databases
As the need to store data increases, NoSQL databases are set to impact businesses across industries. Below are the three main sectors where NoSQL databases will be increasingly used.
Big Data
Big data has become the foundation for many businesses as they look to improve their services. In his post ‘NoSQL and the Future of Big Data’, IT Program Manager Kamal Singh detailed how NoSQL databases will revolutionize Big Data in the near future. He notes that NoSQL databases are more flexible than traditional relational databases and can store data in a variety of formats, including unstructured data, which is becoming increasingly common.
Unstructured data (information that doesn’t have a pre-defined structure or format) includes everything from documents and images to video films and social media messages. As more people consume digital media, big data collection has become vital for businesses to remain competitive. As technology continues to innovate, Singh believes NoSQL will play a major role in the future of Big Data.
Artificial Intelligence
The world is quickly turning to one dominated by AI. As noted in our post ‘AI Adoption Accelerates Across Asia Pacific’, a study found that Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong rated themselves as mature in AI adoption. Most notably, IT leaders across the Asia Pacific acknowledged the essential role of strategic data management in effectively unlocking the full value of AI. On the frontline of this required strategic data management is the NoSQL database.
These databases are the perfect foundation for advanced AI solutions, especially generative AI solutions. Most modern NoSQL databases have features such as search engines and vector storage that enable these AI models to understand and analyze the deep meaning of data.
Web Content Management
The internet is continuously growing, and the website-building industry is expected to be worth $3.8 billion by 2030. Traditionally, websites have used relational databases to store and manage content, but as the amount of content increases along with the need to store large quantities of data, there is a collective demand for a more flexible data management system.
Alongside Big Data, NoSQL databases are also optimized for Big Content, which is primarily unstructured data that is very large. With more websites putting videos, images, and social media applications at the forefront of their content, web content management platforms need a versatile dataset to handle this data. This is why companies like Facebook and Google are investing in NoSQL as an alternative to relational databases, as they can manage information for high-performance websites and applications.
While NoSQL databases have been around for a long time, the rapid speed at which data collection and technology are evolving has made them even more vital to every industry. NoSQL databases will continue to be a vital part of data management in the future.
