NoSQL is an approach to database design that focuses on providing a mechanism for storage and retrieval of data that is modeled in means other than the tabular relations used in relational databases. Instead of the typical tabular structure of a relational database, NoSQL databases house data within one data structure
- Designed for unstructured and semi-structured data.
- Offers scalability and flexibility.
- Further divided into:
- Document Stores: MongoDB, Elasticsearch, CouchDB (stores JSON-like documents).
- Key-Value Stores: Redis, DynamoDB, Valkey (uses key-value pairs).
- Column-Family Stores: Apache Cassandra, HBase (optimized for big data analytics).
- Graph Databases: Neo4j, ArangoDB (ideal for relationships and network analysis).