If your company has chosen you to embrace more than one open-source databases for the organization, it is prudent for you to make the right choice. This is obviously a complicated task irrespective of the fact of whether you are a beginner or an experienced database management professional.
Over the past, if you look closely, you will find that the use of open-source database technology has surged in enterprise spaces. Its popularity has resulted in an overcrowded marketplace with companies dealing with open source software, saying their solutions will resolve every issue of your company and adjust to every workload. As a skilled professional, do not fall prey to such claims. Note, choosing the right database with open source technology is not a subject matter that you should take lightly. It is a complex and essential choice, so know what your options are well.
Professional experts from popular database management and administration company in the USA RemoteDBA state if you have been lucky to work with direct projects that involved the use of open source database technologies and have had the privilege of guiding others, you should take the following factors into consideration before you choose the correct system for your organization-
Set A Goal
This might seem to be simple; however, if you have conversed with others that have explored PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and MySQL, you will find that fixing a goal should be on the top of your list. In order to avoid getting carried away by the plethora of options you have when it comes to open-source software technologies in the current market, make sure that you have a fixed goal in mind. You may have the objective of providing your internal developers with a uniform open-source backend database to be managed by the in-house database teams. Maybe, you have a goal to remove and replace the entire tasks of any specific legacy application and backend database with an open-source database.
Once you have identified what your goal is, you can now focus on your efforts. This will direct you to improved conversations both internally and outside the organization with advocates and vendors that specialize in open source database software technologies.
Comprehend Your Workload
You will discover that an increase in database technologies and systems means they can perform diverse functions and specialize in specific areas. For instance, MongoDB is currently transactional, and MySQL has the advantages of JSON storage today. There is an increasing trend in open source databases today where you will find they have checkboxes that claim that specific features are present. One of the most common errors that developers commit is not using the right tool for the right job. There can be a factor that leads the organization to a wrong path like, for instance, an overzealous manager or a developer with a tunnel vision. The sad part is the wrong tool that is embraced might work for small volumes of transactions and other data; however, later bottlenecks will surface, and they need to be solved with a completely different tool.
For instance, if you are looking for a data analytics warehouse for the company, embracing an open-source database that is relational in nature is not the smart choice. In case, you need an app that processes transactions with consistency and integrity for data rigidity, the NoSQL database here is obviously not the right choice.
Do Not Resort To Reinvention
Over the years, open-source technologies have increased multi-fold and expanded. They have hardened in the recent few years and have witnessed a transformation from new production-ready questionable platforms to proven graded enterprise database backend software. Now, you can see that companies across the globe have grown with an objective to offer protection support and other tools available in the open-source database arena for the multiple start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, and medium-sized businesses in the market.
There are some prominent companies in the world that are making innovations when it comes to improving the features of open source database projects for an organization. This is why open source database technologies are today on the top of the list, and they have created and produced suitable database architectures for resolving specific issues.
You should understand the platform that you are interested in and take time for research. It is evident that someone before you have tried that technology, so invest time to check how it worked for them. For instance, Amazon gives you a script for CloudFormation that helps in the deployment of the MongoDB system into its EC2 environments. Note that if you an early adopter, this does not stop you from exploring. You should understand the fact that you have a unique workload, and that should fit into the open-source database system that you need. If it does fit in, you should embrace it knowing the fact there are both rewards and risks for being an early adopter.
Start With Simple Solutions And Consult Experts When In Doubt
Note, the database you embrace must be critical to the goal of the organization, and there should be no downtimes. This is the mission you should have in mind when you are searching for the best open-source database technologies for your company. In case you have doubts and need the intervention of an expert, reach out to them on forums to seek their advice.
Your database should not be too complicated as in case it is; it will be quite expensive for you to maintain. Reach out to open source database technology vendors and websites to get all your doubts clarified before you finally decide to invest in the database system based on open-source technology.
Therefore, when it comes to choosing the ideal open-source database technology for your organization, keep the above factors in mind. Please keep it simple so that downtimes and extra costs are avoided. For queries and doubts, do not hesitate to reach out to skilled experts, vendors, and websites dealing with open source database technologies in the market.
