On proposing and evaluating a NoSQL document database logical approach

Abstract

Purpose NoSQL databases do not require a default schema associated with the data. Even that, they are categorized by data models. A model associated with the data can promote better strategies for persistence and manipulation of data in the target database. Based on this motivation, the purpose of this paper is to present an approach for logical design of NoSQL document databases that consists a process that converts a conceptual modeling into efficient logical representations for a NoSQL document database. The authors also evaluate their approach and demonstrate that the generated NoSQL logical structures reduce the amount of data items accessed by queries. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents an approach for logical design of NoSQL document database schemas based on a conceptual schema. The authors generate compact and redundancy-free schemas and define appropriate representations in a NoSQL document logical model. The estimated volume of data and workload information can be considered to generate optimized NoSQL document structures. Findings This approach was evaluated through a case study with an experimental evaluation in the e-commerce application domain. The results demonstrate that the authors’ workload-based conversion process improves query performance on NoSQL documents by reducing the number of database accesses. Originality/value Unlike related work, the reported approach covers all typical conceptual constructs, details a conversion process between conceptual schemas and logical representations for NoSQL document database category and, additionally, considers the estimated database workload to perform optimizations in the logical structure. An experimental evaluation shows that the proposed approach is promising.