Relational DB vs Non Relational DB – Which One is Meant for You?

Information is the prime asset which no business can do without. To bring out more value from this paramount asset, you need to know which database is right for organizing your data in the best possible way.

To understand which type of database is optimal for your needs, you have to compare relational DB vs. Non Relational DB.

Relational DB vs Non relational DB

A relational database is one where the data is arranged in tabular form. Thus, relational databases are structured. Data contained within these database types are said to have dependencies; that is, they have relationships with one another.

A non relational database on the other hand happens to be document oriented. That is, data is organized more like a laundry list of information. Thus, in a non relational database document, you will find that data is organized in the form of a list.

To understand which type of database is right for you, you must think about the pros and cons of both.

Here are the advantages inherent to relational databases.

Data is organized in a highly structured format.
Thanks to the structure, navigating through data is easier and there is better consistency
Between various data points, you can identify relationships more easily Here are the advantages inherent to non relational databases.
Data is not arranged in a structured format.
Greater flexibility is possible due to the format.
Data and its analysis have a more dynamic nature.

To further understand relational DB vs non relational DBs, you should delve deeper into their structure.

Relational Databases

Relational databases are also known as SQL databases. SQL stands for Structured Query Language. Thus, data for such a database is structured in a highly rigid order according to rows, columns, and tables.

Tables comprise of a single object or variable that you are analyzing. Columns show the data points you need to store and analyze. The row displays the data point values for each data point in the column.

Here is how you will structure outdoor temperature in the relational database or SQL compliant format.

Table – weather
Data Points – temperature in Fahrenheit
Rows – Time
Column – date

As you may realize, navigating and locating relevant data points is easier with such a rigid and highly organized data format. Thus, you will have no problem retrieving the temperature at 2:00 pm on the 9^th of December.

Thanks to the strict structure, computations, analysis, filtering, and sorting are simpler and quicker. You can also connect various tables more easily if they are following such a format.

Non Relational Databases

Non relational databases are also referred to as NoSQL databases. You may have guessed that, not being SQL compliant, they will have a much more fluid structure. This paradigm allows for greater versatility and flexibility. If the dataset is not defined precisely, then it is much harder to make tables and define relationships.

Certain apps need non relational databases since their data has no structure. As this data cannot be easily arranged in the form of tables and exact relationships cannot be defined, you will have to resort to non relational databases. The data resembles a long text document filled with lots of data in no particular order.