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Rishabh Agarwal
Rishabh Agarwal

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15 Databases, 15 Use Cases — The Ultimate Guide That No One Asked For (But Everyone Needs)

15 Databases

1. Relational Databases

  • Examples: Postgres, MySQL, Oracle
  • Features: Organized into tables with fixed columns; uses foreign keys to establish relationships.
  • Use Cases: E-commerce, finance, healthcare, and applications with structured data and well-defined relationships.

2. Wide-Column Databases

  • Examples: Cassandra, ScyllaDB, DynamoDB
  • Features: NoSQL databases with flexible columns that can vary across rows; optimized for high scalability and low-latency querying.
  • Use Cases: Big data, analytics, high-write throughput.

3. Time-Series Databases (TSDB)

  • Examples: InfluxDB, Prometheus, Kdb+
  • Features: Optimized for time-indexed data like metrics and events.
  • Use Cases: Financial trading, performance monitoring, IoT sensor data.

4. Ledger Databases

  • Examples: Amazon Quantum
  • Features: Designed for financial data with immutability and cryptographic verification; validated by a central authority.
  • Use Cases: Financial applications, supply chain management, voting systems.

5. Graph Databases

  • Examples: Neo4j, ArangoDB, Amazon Neptune
  • Features: Store data as nodes, relationships, and properties; ideal for managing interconnected data.
  • Use Cases: Social networks, knowledge graphs, recommendation systems.

6. Object-Oriented Databases (ODBMS)

  • Examples: ObjectDB, db4o
  • Features: Store data as objects, similar to object-oriented programming languages; support inheritance and polymorphism.
  • Use Cases: Object-oriented applications, multimedia databases.

7. Hierarchical Databases

  • Examples: IBM IMS, Windows Registry
  • Features: Organize data in a tree-like structure with parent-child relationships.
  • Use Cases: File systems, legacy systems.

8. Document Databases

  • Examples: MongoDB, CouchDB, ArangoDB
  • Features: Store semi-structured data as JSON-like documents; flexible and hierarchical.
  • Use Cases: Content management systems, e-commerce platforms.

9. Key-Value Databases

  • Examples: Redis, Couchbase, DataStax
  • Features: Store data in key-value pairs; highly scalable and fast.
  • Use Cases: Caching, session storage.

10. Blob Databases

  • Examples: Amazon S3
  • Features: Store large unstructured binary data like media files.
  • Use Cases: Multimedia storage, content delivery networks.

11. In-Memory Databases

  • Examples: Redis, Memcached, Apache Ignite
  • Features: Store data in memory for ultra-low latency and high throughput.
  • Use Cases: Caching, real-time bidding, gaming leaderboards.

12. Text Search Databases

  • Examples: Elasticsearch
  • Features: Optimized for storage, retrieval, and analysis of large volumes of text data.
  • Use Cases: Web searches, auto-complete, filtering.

13. Spatial Databases

  • Examples: PostGIS, Oracle Spatial
  • Features: Manage spatial data types (e.g., points, polygons) and related relationships.
  • Use Cases: GIS, location-based services, spatial analysis.

14. Vector Databases

  • Examples: Pinecone, Chroma
  • Features: Store, index, and search high-dimensional data; optimized for AI and machine learning tasks.
  • Use Cases: Image and video search, recommendation systems, AI model embeddings.

15. Embedded Databases

  • Examples: SQLite, RocksDB, BerkeleyDB
  • Features: Lightweight databases integrated within applications; offer fast data access with a small footprint.
  • Use Cases: Desktop applications, quick proofs of concept, resource-constrained environments.

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