A NoSQL (originally referring to “non SQL” or “non relational”) database provides a mechanism for storage and retrieval of data that is modeled in means other than the tabular relations used in relational databases. Such databases have existed since the late 1960s, but did not obtain the “NoSQL” moniker until a surge of popularity in the early twenty-first century, triggered by the needs of Web 2.0 companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon.com.
The data structures used by NoSQL databases (e.g. key-value, graph, or document) differ slightly from those used by default in relational databases, making some operations faster in NoSQL and others faster in relational databases. NoSQL databases are increasingly used in big data and real-time web applications. NoSQL systems are also sometimes called “Not only SQL” to emphasize that they may support SQL-like query languages.
Types of NoSQL databases:
There are different approaches to classify NoSQL databases, classification based on data model.
Column:
Accumulo, Cassandra, Druid, HBase, Vertica
Document:
Clusterpoint, Apache CouchDB, Couchbase, DocumentDB, HyperDex, Lotus Notes, MarkLogic, MongoDB, OrientDB, Qizx
Key-value:
CouchDB, Oracle NoSQL Database, Dynamo, FoundationDB, HyperDex, MemcacheDB, Redis, Riak, FairCom c-treeACE, Aerospike, OrientDB, MUMPS
Graph:
Allegro, Neo4J, InfiniteGraph, OrientDB, Virtuoso, Stardog
Multi-model:
OrientDB, FoundationDB, ArangoDB, Alchemy Database, CortexDB, MarkLogic