Knowledge graphs are hyped. We can officially say this now, since Gartner included knowledge graphs in the 2018 hype cycle for emerging technologies. Though we did not have to wait for Gartner -- declaring this as the "Year of the Graph" was our opener for 2018. Like anyone active in the field, we see the opportunity, as well as the threat in this: With hype comes confusion. Knowledge graphs are real. They have been for the last 20 years at least. Knowledge graphs, in their original definition and incarnation, have been about knowledge representation and reasoning. Things such as controlled vocabularies, taxonomies, schemas, and ontologies have all been part of this, built on a Semantic Web foundation of standards and practices.Also: Planet analytics 1.0: From the UN lab to the globe So, what's changed? How come the likes of Airbnb, Amazon, Google, LinkedIn, Uber, and Zalando sport knowledge graphs in their core business? How come Amazon and Microsoft joined the crowd of graph … [Read more...] about Knowledge graphs beyond the hype: Getting knowledge in and out of graphs and databases
Lightweight nosql database
How to achieve large-scale IoT with relational databases
Conventional wisdom states that relational databases are not scalable or robust enough to handle the huge numbers of connections, the massive throughput, and all the cool tricks required to master IoT (Internet of Things) applications. But I know this isn’t true, as Oracle customers have been doing it for years. How, exactly, is this done? First, let’s make sure we agree on the meaning of IoT. The official definition is interconnection via the Internet of everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data. IoT involves all sorts of devices, from watches, TVs, and phones to ovens, refrigerators, and gas meters made “smart” by being connected and sharing data. And at some point, the need to gather this data for mining.From a database point of view, organizations need to capture the huge volume of data sent from IoT devices, ingest it, and then mine it as the business requires. Ingestion and rapid analysis of this data is critical for a business to … [Read more...] about How to achieve large-scale IoT with relational databases
How to choose a database for your microservices
The past 10 years have seen the explosive growth of large-scale distributed systems. This trend has produced a whirlwind of creativity in the database world that is arguably without precedent in the history of the software industry. The result is a healthy and competitive database marketplace with an enormous variety of platforms for us to choose from. But how do we go about making those choices?In this article, we’ll explore how you can go about choosing the right database models for your application. (Yes, there can be more than one!) We’ll also look at how your choice of data models can help determine which technologies to include in your data tier.Cloud architecture, NoSQL, and microservicesAs software developers began to create web-scale applications, the relational databases that have historically dominated our data architectures began to show a lot of strain. We developed hugely popular social applications, and began connecting more and more devices to the Internet … [Read more...] about How to choose a database for your microservices
How to work with MongoDB in .Net
MongoDB is a popular, open source, scale-out NoSQL database that provides high throughput for your data-driven applications. Unlike relational databases such as SQL Server, Oracle, and MySQL, which store data in tables according to a rigid schema, MongoDB stores data in documents with flexible schema. There are many such non-relational databases around including CouchDB, RavenDB, and Couchbase. However, I like MongoDB primarily due to its scalability, speed, and dynamic querying capabilities.MongoDB uses the BSON format under the hood to represent the JSON documents at the heart of the data store. BSON or “Binary JSON” is a lightweight and efficient binary-encoded data serialization format that supports fast data traversal and searches. BSON also allows MongoDB to support data types—namely int, long, date, floating point, and decimal128—not represented in JSON. In MongoDB documents are part of collections, in much the same way as a row is part of a … [Read more...] about How to work with MongoDB in .Net
7 essential technologies for a modern data architecture
The re-platforming of enterprise IT infrastructure is no small undertaking. Re-platforming is usually sparked by a shifting set of key business drivers, and that is precisely the case today. Simply put, the platforms that have dominated enterprise IT for nearly 30 years can no longer handle the workloads needed to drive businesses forward.At the center of this digital transformation is data, which has become the most valuable currency in business. Organizations have long been hamstrung in their use of data by incompatible formats, limitations of traditional databases, and the inability to flexibly combine data from multiple sources. New technologies promise to change all that.Improving the deployment model of software is one major facet to removing barriers to data usage. Greater “data agility” also requires more flexible databases and more scalable real-time streaming platforms. In fact no fewer than seven foundational technologies are combining to deliver a flexible, … [Read more...] about 7 essential technologies for a modern data architecture