Normalization is also a logical concept (and merely a suggestion when it comes to the relational model, not a requirement) orthogonal to physical scalability concerns. Sometimes people use it loosely, assuming a one-to-one correspondence between a relation and a physical file.
These are important distinctions, because a misconception here leads to entirely the wrong solution.
One thing that does have inherent physical constraints is consistency. That's usually what people mean when they say that the relational model doesn't scale, but it would be much less confusing to just say that. Then there would be no reason to dismiss a relational language when designing scalable systems.
These are important distinctions, because a misconception here leads to entirely the wrong solution.
One thing that does have inherent physical constraints is consistency. That's usually what people mean when they say that the relational model doesn't scale, but it would be much less confusing to just say that. Then there would be no reason to dismiss a relational language when designing scalable systems.