Course

NoSQL Databases, Introduction | DBDA.X410

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NoSQL databases support Big Data by providing scalability, high-availability, clustering, efficient storage and easy access to huge amounts of “semi-structured” data. NoSQL databases use schema-optional (non-relational) formats and are, in general, open-source. This course gives you a hands-on overview of the two most popular NoSQL databases - MongoDB and Cassandra – as well as an overview of core concepts and other types of NoSQL databases.

The course covers installation, DB shell usage, programmatic access, data modeling, scaling/clustering, categories of NoSQL databases (column-based, document-based, key value-based, or graphic-based), the CAP Theorem, and BASE semantics. You will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience via homework asignments and a course project that involves setting up, populating (with publically available datasets), and using a NoSQL of your choice (subject to instructor approval). By the end of the course, you will understand NoSQL concepts and know how to use popular NoSQL databases within your software or IT infrastructures.

Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to:

• Understand the need for NoSQL databases - the types of problems NoSQL databases help solve
• Understand the "foundation concepts" behind Mongo DB and Cassandra including semi-structured datasets, wide-rows, etc
• Understand how Mongo DB and Cassandra databases support (horizontal) scaling to support BigData - sharding, clustering
• Understand how Mongo DB and Cassandra support fault tolerance - replication, clustering
• Understand the relationship between cloud computing platforms and the databases we study
• Write code to work with Mongo DB and Cassandra database APIs
• Apply basic administration of Mongo DB and Cassandra

Topics Include:

• Why use NoSQL databases?
• Types of NoSQL databases: Key value, document, column, graph, others
• MongoDB basics
• MongoDB data modeling, GeoData
• MongoDB sharding, replication, clustering
• Cassandra basics
• Cassandra data modeling, real-time data with wide rows
• Cassandra rings, replication
• Other NoSQL databases: Neo4J, DynamoDB
• Accessing NoSQL database APIs: Coding
• Deploying NoSQL databases in the cloud: Amazon AWS
• Using publically available datasets
• CAP theorem, BASE

Skills Needed: Experience using a programming language such as Python, Ruby, Java, etc. Ability to set up open-source software, databases, tools, and development environments on personal computers.