Features of NoSQL

Non-relational

 NoSQL databases never follow the relational model

 Never provide tables with flat fixed-column records
 Work with self-contained aggregates or BLOBs
 Doesn't require object-relational mapping and data normalization
 No complex features like query languages, query planners,
referential integrity joins, ACID
Schema-free

 NoSQL databases are either schema-free or have relaxed schemas

 Do not require any sort of definition of the schema of the data
 Offers heterogeneous structures of data in the same domain

Simple API

 Offers easy to use interfaces for storage and querying data provided
 APIs allow low-level data manipulation & selection methods
 Text-based protocols mostly used with HTTP REST with JSON
 Mostly used no standard based query language
 Web-enabled databases running as internet-facing services
Distributed

 Multiple NoSQL databases can be executed in a distributed fashion

 Offers auto-scaling and fail-over capabilities
 Often ACID concept can be sacrificed for scalability and throughput
  Mostly no synchronous replication between distributed nodes .Asynchronous Multi-Master
Replication, peer-to-peer, HDFS Replication
 Only providing eventual consistency
 Shared Nothing Architecture. This enables less coordination and higher distribution.

Types of NoSQL Databases

There are mainly four categories of NoSQL databases. Each of these categories has its unique

attributes and limitations. No specific database is better to solve all problems. You should select a
database based on your product needs.

 Key-value Pair Based

 Column-oriented Graph
 Graphs based
 Document-oriented
Key Value Database:

It is one of the most basic types of NoSQL databases.

Data is stored in key/value pairs.
It is designed i to handle lots of data and heavy load.
Key-value pair storage databases store data as a hash table where each key is unique, and the value
can be a JSON, BLOB(Binary Large Objects), string, etc.
This kind of NoSQL database is used as a collection, dictionaries, associative arrays, etc.
Key value stores help the developer to store schema-less data. They work best for shopping cart
contents.
Redis, Dynamo, Riak are some examples of key-value store DataBases. They are all based on
Amazon's Dynamo paper.
Column based database:
Column-oriented databases work on columns and are based on BigTable paper by Google.
Every column is treated separately. Column stores data in column specific files.
Values of single column are stored contiguously.
All data within each column datafile have the same type which makes it ideal for compression.
In Column stores, query processors work on columns too.
They deliver high performance on aggregation queries like SUM, COUNT, AVG, MIN etc. as the
data is readily available in a column.
Column-based NoSQL databases are widely used to manage data warehouses, business intelligence,
CRM, Library card catalogs,
HBase, Cassandra, HBase, Hypertable are examples of column based database.

Document-Oriented:
Document-Oriented NoSQL DB stores and retrieves data as a key value pair but the value part is
stored as a document. The document is stored in JSON or XML formats. The value is understood by
the DB and can be queried.

 A document is a key value collection where the key allows access to its value.

 Documents are not typically forced to have a schema and therefore are flexible and easy to
change.
  Documents are stored into collections in order to group different kinds of data.
 Documents can contain many different key-value pairs, or key-array pairs, or even nested
documents.

In this diagram on your left you can see we have rows and columns, and in the right, we have a
document database which has a similar structure to JSON. Now for the relational database, you
have to know what columns you have and so on. However, for a document database, you have data
store like JSON object. You do not require to define which make it flexible.
The document type is mostly used for CMS systems, blogging platforms, real-time analytics & e-
commerce applications. It should not use for complex transactions which require multiple
operations or queries against varying aggregate structures.
Amazon SimpleDB, CouchDB, MongoDB, Riak, Lotus Notes, MongoDB, are popular Document
originated DBMS systems.

Graph-
Based
A graph
type
database
stores
entities as
well the
relations
amongst
those
entities.
The
entity is
stored as
a node
with the relationship as edges.
An edge gives a relationship between nodes. Every node and edge has a unique identifier.

Compared to a relational database where tables are loosely connected, a Graph database is a multi-
relational in nature. Traversing relationship is fast as they are already captured into the DB, and
there is no need to calculate them.
Graph base database mostly used for social networks, logistics, spatial data.
Neo4J, Infinite Graph, OrientDB, FlockDB are some popular graph-based databases.

Advantages
of NoSQL
 Can be used as Primary or Analytic Data Source
 Big Data Capability
 No Single Point of Failure
 Easy Replication
 No Need for Separate Caching Layer
 It provides fast performance and horizontal scalability.
 Can handle structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data with equal effect
  Object-oriented programming which is easy to use and flexible
 NoSQL databases don't need a dedicated high-performance server
 Support Key Developer Languages and Platforms
 Simple to implement than using RDBMS
 It can serve as the primary data source for online applications.
 Handles big data which manages data velocity, variety, volume, and complexity
 Excels at distributed database and multi-data center operations
 Eliminates the need for a specific caching layer to store data
 Offers a flexible schema design which can easily be altered without downtime or service
disruption

Disadvantages of NoSQL
 No standardization rules
 Limited query capabilities
 RDBMS databases and tools are comparatively mature
 It does not offer any traditional database capabilities, like consistency when multiple
transactions are performed simultaneously.
 When the volume of data increases it is difficult to maintain unique values as keys become
difficult
 Doesn't work as well with relational data
 The learning curve is stiff for new developers
 Open source options so not so popular for enterprises.