Earlier this year we welcomed ArangoDB to the Cambridge Intelligence technology alliance. Interest in graph-optimized databases has exploded, as developers look for a better way to work with complex and messy real-world data. Many of our customers rely on graph databases to provide the speedy graph querying needed to power their KeyLines deployments.
Another option is growing in popularity: multi-model databases.
We spoke to Luca Olivari, President of ArangoDB, to find out more about their technology and the multi-model approach in general.
Hi Andrew. ArangoDB is a native multi-model database that combines three major NoSQL data models in a single core: key-value, document and graph, with one declarative query language, AQL.
In an enterprise, different applications use different data models. Inside those applications, you’ll find different kinds of data access characteristics. So selecting just one kind of database, optimized for a single model, for all of those tasks, would be painfully limiting and expensive, if you think about the weeks and months developers spend on adapting their data to a relational schema.
One option is to deploy several databases, meaning your DBAs need to learn and maintain multiple technologies, and spend their days trying to get a consistent state of data across them – a kind of mission impossible.
ArangoDB provides a simpler solution. We support three major models in one core, with one query language, including transactional semantics. The database combines a full, scalable document store with transactions and JOIN operations, with fully-fledged graph queries.
Simplifying the complexity of the tech stack in this way gives developers more time to work on their applications, improving their productivity.
The main team behind ArangoDB has grown steadily. The first release was back in 2011, but our team’s NoSQL expertise goes back for over a decade. Among us we have multiple PhDs, from St Andrew’s, RWTH and Princeton, and our founders worked with the likes of DHL, NYSE and Deutsche Bank before starting the ArangoDB project.
The main reason for using ArangoDB is to increase application development agility and reduce costs.
Multiple data models with one technology reduces the complexity of the tech stack.
Accessing your data with a single, feature-rich query language saves on development effort.
