Correlation Database - Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages and Disadvantages

For analytical data warehouse applications, a CDBMS has several advantages over alternative database structures. First, because the database engine itself indexes all data and auto-generates its own schema on the fly while loading, it can be implemented quickly and is easy to update. There is no need for physical pre-design and no need to ever restructure the database. Second, a CDBMS enables creation and execution of complex queries such as associative queries ("show everything that is related to x") that are difficult if not impossible to model in SQL. The primary advantage of the CDBMS is that it is optimized for executing ad hoc queries - queries not anticipated during the data warehouse design phase.

A CDBMS has two drawbacks in comparison to database alternatives. Unlike relational databases, which can be used in a wide variety of applications, a correlation database is designed specifically for analytical applications and does not provide transaction management features; it cannot be used for transactional processing. Second, because it indexes all data during the load process, the physical load speed of a CDBMS is slower than relational or column-oriented structures. However, because it eliminates the need for logical or physical pre-design, the overall "time to use" of a CDBMS is generally similar to or somewhat faster than alternative structures.