High-Performance Data Architectures

Chapter 1. The Database Keeps Evolving, but Can It Keep Up?

There was a time when database choices were fairly limited. Enterprises could work with flat-file databases, or, eventually, more adaptable relational databases. These databases worked well for basic transactions and internal corporate operations, but users had to rely on IT teams to craft and generate reports about the state of their business. That all changed about a decade ago, with an explosion of new types of databases, built on the web and cloud, that put more power in the hands of end users—and gave database managers more powerful tools to serve fast-changing business needs.

Pushing the Boundaries of the Database Frontier

As databases made the transition to the cloud, they evolved, from serving as simply data storage frameworks to becoming essential instruments for delivering greater customer service, as well as understanding of the business and its environs. Databases evolved with the platforms that arose within the computing world—from mainframes to midrange-class computers to personal computers, from proprietary to open source systems, and ultimately, to the cloud. But the evolution isn’t stopping there.

There are many frontiers still open for the advancement of database solutions, with many issues that still need to be addressed: data silos that keep information from effectively reaching the users and applications that need it, data quality and integrity issues, a lag in adapting to new business realities, ...