Comparing Data Types and Microsoft’s Preferred Technologies

Andrew analyzes and writes about Microsoft's data management, business intelligence, and machine learning solutions, as well as aspects of licensing... more

Most organizations have applications that use a variety of data types, from traditional relational data to nonrelational documents to unstructured data lakes. This variety results in the need to have multiple database management solutions.

Understanding the data types and Microsoft’s preferred technologies for each can help organizations select a solution that best fits their needs and architectures.

Relational Data

Relational data, also called transactional or structured data, is traditional business data used by most enterprises for daily business functions such as accounting, finance, and manufacturing. Data is organized into rows and columns and is separated into multiple tables that are related based on key columns. Relational data also encompasses newer structured formats. For example, Graph data is optimized for highly interconnected data, such as mapping the relationships between people in social media applications, tracking airline routes, and building network designs.

Microsoft’s preferred relational database management technology is based on its SQL Server product.

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