{ "id": 2943, "date": "2022-03-07T12:14:20", "date_gmt": "2022-03-07T12:14:20", "guid": { "rendered": "http:\/\/100.28.163.57\/?p=2943" }, "modified": "2024-04-01T09:01:40", "modified_gmt": "2024-04-01T09:01:40", "slug": "graph-databases-vs-relational-databases-understanding-the-difference", "status": "publish", "type": "post", "link": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/graph-databases-vs-relational-databases-understanding-the-difference\/", "title": { "rendered": "Graph Databases vs. Relational Databases: Understanding the Difference" }, "content": { "rendered": "

\u201cRelational databases are great at what they’re good at, but there are limiting factors. The resurgence of the graph database is an effort to overcome these limitations.\u201d Tech Target<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Take a minute to think about a database. What comes to mind? If you envision a collection of data, neatly organized and sorted in rows and tables, you\u2019re probably thinking about a relational database\u2014and for good reason\u2014they\u2019ve been the power-horse of software applications since the ’80\u2019s.<\/p>\n

However, with the insurgence of data over the past decade, several organizations (like Amazon and Google) are generating data that pushes the boundaries of relational databases. That\u2019s where graph databases have come in to play. But to understand how\u2014let\u2019s take a look at the differences between graph and relational databases.<\/p>\n

Relational Databases<\/h2>\n

For more than three decades, relational databases have been at the forefront when it comes to data collection and storage. Containing highly structured data in tables with predetermined columns of the same type of information, these databases require developers and applications to strictly structure the data used in applications.<\/p>\n

\"relational<\/p>\n

There are several constraints within a relational database\u2014and seemingly simple operations can be memory-intensive and carry an exponential cost. According to Tech Target<\/a>, \u201cRelational databases are great at what they’re good at, but there are limiting factors. One of the limiting factors with relational databases is that they are rigid and difficult to chunk for distributed computing systems. Another is that relational databases are sometimes ill equipped to represent the actual associations between pieces of information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although not every case is a good fit for this type of strict data model, in the past, the lack of good alternatives has made it difficult for other models to break into the mainstream. Until now.<\/p>\n

Graph Databases<\/h2>\n

While relational databases are based on a somewhat hierarchical system of tables, columns and rows\u2014graph databases are based on graph theory and employ nodes, properties and edges. Unlike other databases that require connections between entities using special properties such as foreign keys or out-of-band processing, graph databases use simple abstractions of nodes and relationships when connecting structures\u2014enabling users to build sophisticated models in less time.<\/p>\n

\"graph<\/p>\n

Another reason organizations are making the switch to graph databases is its ease of storing and retrieving varied data connected by relationships, helping you manage and query highly connected data in record time. Really, graph databases are like the next generation of relational databases, but with first class support for relationships\u2014or implied connections indicated in traditional relational databases.<\/p>\n

According to an article in Computer Weekly<\/a>, \u201cGraph databases map relationships between entities in a network. They won\u2019t replace conventional relational databases, but for harnessing the value of interconnectedness they mark a breakthrough.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Discover the Power of Graph Databases<\/h2>\n

Ready to learn more about the advantages of graph databases? Contact the Sprinterra team<\/a> today to see how you can harness the power of graph database models in your organization.<\/p>\n

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\u201cRelational databases are great at what they’re good at, but there are limiting factors. The resurgence of the graph database is an effort to overcome these limitations.\u201d Tech Target Take a minute to think about a database. What comes to mind? If you envision a collection of data, neatly organized and sorted in rows and […]<\/p>", "protected": false }, "author": 3, "featured_media": 2946, "comment_status": "closed", "ping_status": "closed", "sticky": false, "template": "", "format": "standard", "meta": { "_acf_changed": false, "footnotes": "" }, "categories": [ 234 ], "tags": [ 166, 167, 168, 83, 84, 77 ], "class_list": [ "post-2943", "post", "type-post", "status-publish", "format-standard", "has-post-thumbnail", "hentry", "category-all", "tag-databases", "tag-graph-databases", "tag-relational-databases", "tag-software-development", "tag-software-development-company", "tag-sprinterra" ], "acf": [], "_links": { "self": [ { "href": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943", "targetHints": { "allow": [ "GET" ] } } ], "collection": [ { "href": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts" } ], "about": [ { "href": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post" } ], "author": [ { "embeddable": true, "href": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3" } ], "replies": [ { "embeddable": true, "href": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2943" } ], "version-history": [ { "count": 0, "href": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions" } ], "wp:featuredmedia": [ { "embeddable": true, "href": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2946" } ], "wp:attachment": [ { "href": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2943" } ], "wp:term": [ { "taxonomy": "category", "embeddable": true, "href": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2943" }, { "taxonomy": "post_tag", "embeddable": true, "href": "https:\/\/sprinterra.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2943" } ], "curies": [ { "name": "wp", "href": "https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}", "templated": true } ] } }