Handling Omnistructured Data with a Unified Platform

Table of Contents

  1. Summary
  2. Database Fragmentation: Another Day, Another Platform
  3. What’s Wrong with SQL?
  4. A Single Unified Database
  5. Key Takeaways
  6. About George Anadiotis

1. Summary

Today’s database platforms must be able to handle omnistructured data with a single unified platform. Increasingly organizations must integrate and process data of all shapes and sizes, so handling structured data alone is no longer enough. In addition the pressure for near-real-time online processing, both transactional (OLTP) and analytical (OLAP) is increasing.

This report examines the current landscape of modern database platforms, and investigates the requirements for handling omnistructured data with a unified platform.

Key findings in this report include:

  • Proliferation of data formats and platforms forces organizations to invest heavily in complex architectures so that they can process their data efficiently.
  • SQL and webscale can blend, as the progress in multicore processors, parallel algorithms, and in-memory processing allows relational SQL databases to evolve and catch up to their NoSQL counterparts. The enhanced role of semistructured data should not force jettisoning of adopted query languages and technologies, since these represent a significant investment.
  • Transactional and analytical workloads can be converged alongside structured and semistructured data workloads. The key lies in the multipurpose storage of data that enables this convergence. Platforms leveraging in-memory architecture can be redesigned based on data compression and indexing in-memory to deliver performance gains by orders of magnitude that enable use cases not previously possible.

Image courtesy of teekid/iStock.

Full content available to GigaOm Subscribers.

Sign Up For Free