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Understanding Databases

A database is an organized collection of information. It provides an efficient and organized mechanism for storing, managing, and retrieving data.
Databases
3 min read

History

Databases were designed by computer scientists who realized that the original design to store, retrieve, and process information by computer systems had evolved to the point that they needed an efficient process to not only store different types of data, but also efficiently retrieve and process the information that the databases contained.

Standalone software such as word processors and spreadsheets are able to store similar data and information, but they do not excel at efficiently retrieving the information.  These systems do not store the data in a structured format to return useful information with structured queries.  Databases take your data and structure it in a way that lets you and your programs quickly insert, change, and retrieve the specific piece of data you want.

We have been using databases in our lives for quite a while such as the simple example of a phone book.  With computer devices becoming integral to our day to day living, electronic databases have become much more complex. All databases are simply an organized collection of facts or information, such as text, numbers, images, audio and video clips. They provide an efficient and organized mechanism for storing, managing and retrieving that information.

Database Types

Of all the popular databases in web hosting, MySQL is the most popular.  MySQL is a relational database, which stores data as a collection of tables, columns, and rows. Some of the most popular Creating a Support case use MySQL to store their data.  The CMS can quickly retrieve data from a database and compose web pages on the fly. This facilitates substantially richer web applications than simple HTML websites would.

Liquid Web offers quite a few Managed Database Hosting Solutions on our high performance servers to aid you in storing your most important data.

  • MySQL Hosting: The most popular open source database, MySQL is relatively easy to launch and utilize for a number of projects. This provides a wide range of users with a powerful and versatile tool which can be leveraged to handle projects big and small.
  • Microsoft MSSQL Hosting: This is a very useful and manageable database for those utilizing a Windows server.
  • Percona Hosting: Percona serves the same basic needs that MySQL does, but provides enhanced performance and analysis tools.
  • Hadoop Hosting: If you need a database which allows for the collection and analysis of massive amounts of data, Hadoop may be the perfect solution for you.  Built on open-source software, Hadoop utilizes cloud computing principles to break down, analyze and reassign big data into resources you can use to your advantage.
  • Cassandra Hosting: Depending on how they’re configured, many databases can handle any size project, but Cassandra was built specifically for large, mission critical operations which require real-time analytics.  While you may not be launching a project as expansive as Twitter or Netflix, Cassandra’s speed and scalability has been utilized to deliver peak performance along with the infrastructure to support large operations.
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