And while some users may feel overwhelmed by the many options in Azure, the one that allows databases to be fully managed can provide some relief. The Microsoft Azure platform is already an industry leading service, but databases and database management remain core to that. While home users may (or may not!) be familiar with Microsoft Access, which comes as part of the Microsoft Office suite of apps, MySQL has been one of Microsoft's most valuable gifts to the open source community.Īlthough MySQL is increasingly in competition with other database types, not least PostgreSQL and non-relational databases such as NoSQL, Microsoft can cater for these and more with its cloud-based Azure offering. Microsoft Azure (opens in new tab) offers a wide range of database software and management options, hardly surprising as Microsoft has been a leading developer of database formats for decades. With all that in mind, we’re going to look at some of the powerhouses of the database world, from simple and straightforward solutions, to ones with more complex architecture that may require extensive customization. Of course, you can use database software to design your own, and there are various text editors and IDE's available for coding your applications to run on them.Īnd major database software such as MySQL Community Server is now open source software. Many people will be familiar with the basic set of columns and rows of a simple database, such as one made with Microsoft Access, but these days databases can be multi-layered, use different query languages, and work with different storage formats such as XML.

And there are many different priorities that may affect the database architecture, whether it's query speed, storage format, security or even integration issues. There are many different database platform options, all of which allow for the retrieval of datasets in different ways.

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