Comments on: Is The Relational Database Doomed? http://www.thevirtualcircle.com/2009/02/is-the-relational-database-doomed/ You may be cleverer than any one of us, but you are not clverer than all of us. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:59:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: James http://www.thevirtualcircle.com/2009/02/is-the-relational-database-doomed/comment-page-1/#comment-763 James Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:30:54 +0000 http://havemacwillblog.com/?p=4200#comment-763 The relational model is not a physical model (i.e it isn't about b-trees and optimizers), it is a logical model: "A data model is an abstract, self-contained, logical definition of the objects, operators, and so forth, that together constitute the abstract machine with which users interact. The objects allow us to model the structure of data. The operators allow us to model its behavior." The relational model is explicitly independent of the physical layer. As for Greenplum, the PostgreSQL 'Object' part of 'Object-Relational DBMS' is thin (inheritable tables) and hardly justification for claiming it as a non-relational database. And there is nothing magical about map reduce which renders databases that can do it necessarily non-relational, considering it is easily duplicated with materialzed views and triggers. The relational model is not a physical model (i.e it isn’t about b-trees and optimizers), it is a logical model:

“A data model is an abstract, self-contained, logical definition of the objects, operators, and so forth, that together constitute the abstract machine with which users interact. The objects allow us to model the structure of data. The operators allow us to model its behavior.”

The relational model is explicitly independent of the physical layer.

As for Greenplum, the PostgreSQL ‘Object’ part of ‘Object-Relational DBMS’ is thin (inheritable tables) and hardly justification for claiming it as a non-relational database. And there is nothing magical about map reduce which renders databases that can do it necessarily non-relational, considering it is easily duplicated with materialzed views and triggers.

]]> By: anonymous http://www.thevirtualcircle.com/2009/02/is-the-relational-database-doomed/comment-page-1/#comment-765 anonymous Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:47:24 +0000 http://havemacwillblog.com/?p=4200#comment-765 Teradata is a full RDBMS with an optimizer. It offers full ANSI compliant transaction capabilities - always has. It is not a query-only product like a Red Brick. Teradata is a full RDBMS with an optimizer. It offers full ANSI compliant transaction capabilities – always has. It is not a query-only product like a Red Brick.

]]> By: Bloor Robin http://www.thevirtualcircle.com/2009/02/is-the-relational-database-doomed/comment-page-1/#comment-766 Bloor Robin Sun, 15 Feb 2009 02:05:54 +0000 http://havemacwillblog.com/?p=4200#comment-766 They are relational at the logical level, because they offer SQL interfaces, but many object databases do that too. They are not built with traditional RDBMS b-tree architectures that depend upon an optimizer, so they are not relational at the physical level. Greenplum is based on the Postgres object relational engine and supports MapReduce access as well as SQL. Also they are all query-based products built for query workloads. Relational databases offer full transactional capabilities. They are relational at the logical level, because they offer SQL interfaces, but many object databases do that too. They are not built with traditional RDBMS b-tree architectures that depend upon an optimizer, so they are not relational at the physical level. Greenplum is based on the Postgres object relational engine and supports MapReduce access as well as SQL. Also they are all query-based products built for query workloads. Relational databases offer full transactional capabilities.

]]> By: anonymous http://www.thevirtualcircle.com/2009/02/is-the-relational-database-doomed/comment-page-1/#comment-764 anonymous Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:56:48 +0000 http://havemacwillblog.com/?p=4200#comment-764 Um, Teradata, Greenplum, and Netezza are all very much relational databases. Um, Teradata, Greenplum, and Netezza are all very much relational databases.

]]>