Introduction

In this chapter, we will examine some basic categories of distributed data stores. It is impossible to cover all available datastores here. Because each data store can have some unique characteristics that make it different from the rest of the category, it is not easy to establish clear boundaries and classify them into well-defined categories. For this reason, datastores are grouped based on their most basic architectural characteristics and their historical origins.

Based on the above criteria, this chapter will explore four distributed datastores, BigTable/HBase, Cassandra, Spanner, and Fauna DB. We will learn to draw comparisons against these and will understand the strengths and weaknesses of each one.