DB technologies

Emerging database technologies

"Main memory databases are faster than disk-optimized databases, as the internal optimization algorithms are simpler and execute fewer CPU instructions. Accessing data in memory provides faster and more predictable performance than disk. In applications, where response time is critical, such as telecommunications network equipment that operates emergency systems, main memory databases are often used" - Sanjay Mehta CEO of MAIA Intelligence

Of late, the industry has seen the emergence of business intelligence and data warehousing as a major factor influencing business decisions. Businesses have gone past the ‘applications’ phase to a phase where useful, accurate and timely information from application data is being used to make better business decisions.

Databases have also begun to align with this shift in customers’ needs. They continue to be the heart of transaction processing; but there is a definite shift in focus towards providing databases that support superior performance as far as reporting, analytics and data mining are concerned. The trend towards the use of databases for mining useful, accurate information has led to the creation of a new category of databases. 

“Sybase IQ uses a patented columnar architecture that provides superior performance in querying and reporting. It works with any transactional database at the back end and with any reporting software on the front,” said Sudesh Prabhu, Director - Presales and Services, Sybase India.

Moreover, the adoption of specialty servers is growing and customers are moving away from increasingly constrained row-based databases for analytics and data warehousing. There is greater demand for advanced analytics to uncover business opportunities and risk, thereby driving demand for forecasting, predictive modeling and data mining. The market is also seeing the integration of all data types into BI, wherein traditional plus streaming data, non-relational/ unstructured data, (XML data, geospatial data and media) is taking place.

Some of the other latest databases that are being deployed by Indian organizations are Oracle 11g (includes high availability solution), SQL Server 2008 (also includes high availability solution), and DB2/UDB V9.0.

Meanwhile, many of the latest database technologies not only help in solving exotic data warehouse or other intensive number-crunching problems but also real-world data management problems.

Sophisticated analytics to outsmart the competition is emerging as a must-have business practice in many industries. Vast amounts of current and historical data must be run against intricate analytical models to accurately predict future outcomes.

However, these analytics systems are where the data explosion has had the most impact. Implementing more efficient analytics software, therefore, can solve not only the data explosion and its byproduct (rampant energy use) but also dramatically increase the speed, scalability, and flexibility of business intelligence.