SQL vs. NoSQL vs. NewSQL- A Comparative Study

Abstract

SQL Databases also known as RDBMS (Relational Database Management Systems) is the most common and traditional approach to database solutions. The data is stored in a structured way in form of tables or Relations. With advent of Big Data however, the structured approach falls short to serve the needs of Big Data systems which are primarily unstructured in nature. Increasing capacity of SQL although allows huge amount of data to be managed, it does not really count as a solution to Big Data needs, which expects fast response and quick scalability. To solve this problem a new kind of Database system called NoSQL was introduced to provide the scalability and unstructured platform for Big Data applications. NoSQL stands for Not Only SQL. NoSQL databases consist of keyvalue pair, Documents, graph databases or wide – column stores which do not have a standard schema which it needs to follow. It is also horizontally Scalable as opposed to vertical scaling in RDBMS. NoSQL provided great promises to be a perfect database system for Big Data applications; it however falls short because of some major drawbacks like NoSQL does not guarantee ACID properties (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation and Durability) of SQL systems. It is also not compatible with earlier versions of database. This is where NewSQL comes into picture. NewSQL is a latest development in the world of database systems. NewSQL is a Relational Database with the scalability properties of NoSQL. This paper discusses each of these database systems and tries to find the ideal solution for Big Data requirements.