Tutorial

What is NoSQL?

Published on December 15, 2020

Manager, Developer Education

NoSQL is a term generally used to describe any database management system that uses a non-relational data model. The following table lists several NoSQL data models and highlights a few of the popular open-source databases that implement them, but please note that this is not a comprehensive list:

Operational Database Model	Example DBMSs
Key-value store	Redis, MemcacheDB
Columnar database	Cassandra, Apache HBase
Document store	MongoDB, Couchbase, Elasticsearch
Graph database	OrientDB, Neo4j

These different data models can allow for far greater flexibility than the rigid structure imposed by relational databases. Because of their flexibility, NoSQL databases have a reputation for being a better choice for storing semi-structured and unstructured data, as opposed to the normalized, structured data required by relational databases. Since NoSQL databases don’t come with a predefined schema, it’s typically up to developers or database administrators to define how the data should be organized and accessed in whatever way makes the most sense for their application.

For more educational resources related to NoSQL, please visit:

A complete list of our educational resources on NoSQL can be found on our NoSQL tag page.

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