Neo Technology execs: How Neo4j beat Oracle Database by Paul Krill.
From the post:
Neo Technology, which was formed in 2007, offers Neo4J, a Java-based open source NoSQL graph database. With a graph database, which can search social network data, connections between data are explored. Neo4j can solve problems that require repeated network probing (the database is filled with nodes, which are then linked), and the company stresses Neo4j’s high performance. InfoWorld Editor at Large Paul Krill recently talked with Neo CEO Emil Eifrem and Philip Rathle, Neo senior director of products, about the importance of graph database technology as well as Neoo4j’s potential in the mobile space. Eifrem also stressed his confidence in Java, despite recent security issues affecting the platform.
InfoWorld: Graph database technology is not the same as NoSQL, is it?
Eifrem: NoSQL is actually four different types of databases: There’s key value stores, like Amazon DynamoDB, for example. There’s column-family stores like Cassandra. There’s document databases like MongoDB. And then there’s graph databases like Neo4j. There are actually four pillars of NoSQL, and graph databases is one of them. Cisco is building a master data management system based on Neo4j, and this is actually our first Fortune 500 customer. They found us about two years ago when they tried to build this big, complex hierarchy inside of Oracle RAC. In Oracle RAC, they had response time in minutes, and then when they replaced it [with] Neo4j, they had response times in milliseconds. (emphasis added)
It is a great story and one I would repeat if I were marketing Neo4j (which I like a lot).
However, there are a couple of bits missing from the story that would make it more informative.
Such as what “…big, complex hierarchy…” was Cisco trying to build? Details please.
There are things that relational databases don’t do well.
Not realizing that up front is a design failure, not one of software or of relational databases.
Another question I would ask: What percentage of Cisco databases are relational vs. graph?
Fewer claims/stories and more data would go a long way towards informed IT decision making.