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Structured vs unstructured #66821

Closed ankurbajaj9 closed 3 years ago

ankurbajaj9 commented 3 years ago

Is table storage for structured data or unstructured data. I know you can store structured data in NoSQL but the documentation is pretty confusing.

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krish-gh commented 3 years ago

@ankurbajaj9 , Table storage is for structured data. The document gives you the introduction as

Azure Table storage is a service that stores structured NoSQL data in the cloud, providing a key/attribute store with a schemaless design.

Would appreciate if you help us understanding more on which part of the document is confusing to review if any potential update needed.

ankurbajaj9 commented 3 years ago

as per WIki NoSQL is data which is other than tabular data. Structured data is tabular data. What does it mean by Structured NoSQL data ?

krish-gh commented 3 years ago

NoSQL means 'non-relational' as opposed to 'relational' like sql server, mysql etc. NoSQL data may be key-value store (just like table storage in this case), document store like MongoDB, CosmosDB etc. The wiki terms it specifically as "other than tabular 'relations'", not "tabular" only. NoSQL can be tabular also, example is there in the same wiki (Apache HBase etc.).

Structured data is a broader term, means which has a predefined addressable data model as opposed to something like unorganized raw files for example. Structured data does not necessarily have to be tabular. It can be non-relational (NoSQL) document store like MongoDB, CosmosDB, Key-value store like table storage etc along with good old relational SQL DB (relational tabular).

So as you see "Structured NoSQL" is a perfectly coined term. In fact, in many cases, a NoSQL database is inherently a structured data store like in this case table storage.

ankurbajaj9 commented 3 years ago

I perfectly understand what you are trying to say. It's just that the term "structured NoSQL" data does not make a lot of sense. if I expand "Structured Not Only Structured Query Language". Maybe use something like non relational structured data or maybe specify columnar , key value etc.

AnuragSharma-MSFT commented 3 years ago

@ankurbajaj9 This is being assigned to the content author to evaluate and update as appropriate.

SnehaGunda commented 3 years ago

@AnuragSharma-MSFT This doc somehow is in both Cosmos DB and table storage areas. It shouldn't be in the Cosmos DB space. I can delete it, but the issue should be moved to the following page and assign to the right owner in table storage docs:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/tables/table-storage-overview

@krish-gh answered the question above, the sentence can just be tweaked to clarify.

SnehaGunda commented 3 years ago

@ankurbajaj9 I made changes to the doc, they will be live tomorrow. We will close this issue now.

please-close