

How SimpleDB Differs from a RDBMS - dood
http://highscalability.com/search-source-data-how-simpledb-differs-rdbms

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jrockway
Why is everyone so concerned about people not using RDBMSs? Database
management systems are not magic, they are just a query parser on top of some
smart data structures. They are a generic solution, and might not be suitable
for _every_ situation, and that's why people are examining other data storage
and retrieval methods.

It's kind of odd, but I've noticed that databases are a touchier subject than
most things in the computer world. If someone says they're not using a RDBMS,
there is always someone who immediately jumps down their throat as though SQL
is God's Gift To The World.

Anyway, RDBMS aren't going to go away, so if you like them, use them. Some of
us are willing to experiment with other solutions, however :)

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jsjenkins168
The problem with most "traditional" RDBMSs is that they were not designed with
modern web server environments in mind. In order to scale to handle the
frequent and speed sensitive requests needed to serve web pages, techniques
such as sharding or clusting are used to spread data across multiple DB
instances. When you do this, you lose much of the traditional RDBMS
functionality such as being able to join or order. Without this, how much do
we really need SQL anymore?

It also makes for a scaling nightmare for startups who's #1 scaling issue is
typically DB related.

In this respect traditional SQL is starting to show its age. My prediction is
it will begin to become phased out for most web application purposes in favor
of more easily scalable cloud-based and services such as SimpleDB and
BigTable.

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donw
I'm not sure what case the author is trying to make against RDBMSes, but
SimpleDB doesn't seem like much of an answer. Shifting the burden of sorting
and searching on to the programmer seems like a big step backwards to me.

Besides, what's so nasty about SQL?

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jsjenkins168
SimpleDB shifts the burden of database scaling and maintenance from the
programmer. Being free from those worries is a hugely important consideration.
Even if it means having to forgo the ability to do joins or order by.

And you can still use SQL (albeit restricted) on SimpleDB with some of the new
wrapper libraries such as this one: <http://code.google.com/p/simplejpa/>

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edw519
Let's not forget, technologies like SimpleDB and bigtable are primarily
designed for "read only" environments. Rebuild a multi-terrabyte data base
every week or so, then read it millions of times. Cool.

But what happens with dynamic apps, when you need to update that data base as
often as you need to read it? Don't pull the plug on your RDBMS just yet.

