"This is a book for enterprise architects, database administrators, and developers who need to understand the latest developments in database technologies. It is the book to help you choose the correct database technology at a time when concepts such as Big Data, NoSQL and NewSQL are making what used to be an easy choice into a complex decision with significant implications. The relational database (RDBMS) model completely dominated database technology for over 20 years. Today this "one size fits all" stability has been disrupted by a relatively recent explosion of new database technologies. These paradigm-busting technologies are powering the "Big Data" and "NoSQL" revolutions, as well as forcing fundamental changes in databases across the board. Deciding to use a relational database was once truly a no-brainer, and the various commercial relational databases competed on price, performance, reliability, and ease of use rather than on fundamental architectures. Today we are faced with choices between radically different database technologies. Choosing the right database today is a complex undertaking, with serious economic and technological consequences." -- Back cover.