Like many emerging technologies, NoSQL has gone through a hype cycle that saw widespread implementation followed by decidedly mixed results. The cargo-cult mentality that had everyone jumping on board the non-relational database train has certainly led to some high profile, embarrassing roll-backs. There is no one party totally to blame. Vendors presented their solution as the silver bullet to fix all problems while developers with big dreams for the future talked up the need for ever-increasing database scalability to attract investor dollars.
Certainly, business owners can be forgiven for hoping that apainless solution to database woes was at hand at last. But now that the first generation has peaked and the solution is beginning to mature, the time has come to regroup and review the lessons learned over the past decade. Here are three common mistakes that organizations are still making when it comes to NoSQL—and how to avoid them.
Eric Redmond, author of Seven Databases in Seven Weeks, says the most common mistake people make is equating NoSQL with web scale. Redmond says it’s become almost an inside joke in the database community. It’s an understandable assumption. After all, the progenitors of today’s non-relational databases were companies like Google and Amazon that were focusing on how to address massive scalability issues in a web environment. Even the name Mongo comes from huMONGOus—a reference to the volume of data and traffic this popular document store database was expected to address.
