Seven Databases in Seven Weeks, 2nd Edition

Wrap-Up

HBase is a juxtaposition of simplicity and complexity. Its data storage model is pretty straightforward, with a lot of flexibility and just a few built-in schema constraints. A major barrier to understanding HBase, though, stems from the fact that many terms are overloaded with baggage from the relational world (such as table and column). Schema design in HBase typically boils down to deciding on the performance characteristics that you want to apply to your tables and columns, which is pretty far afield from the relational world, where things usually hinge upon table design.

HBase’s Strengths

Noteworthy features of HBase include a robust scale-out architecture and built-in versioning and compression capabilities. HBase’s built-in versioning ...