Learning NOSQL databases using a single machine?

Question

In relational databases I would just pop in W3Schools tutorial, install mysql in my machine and start practicing! How can I learn non relational databases in a similar way? In most tutorials I read that these databases work with multiple nodes and data centers.

Does this mean that I will be unable to learn and practice, say Cassandra, using my own single pc?

Answer 1

You do it just like you do it with mySQL: You set up a database on your local machine and start experimenting.

Most database systems which focus on sharding and clustering also work as a stand-alone instance. But when you want to test these features specifically, you can often run multiple instances on the same machine. When you also want to try how they behave when they run on different machines, you can use a virtualization software like VMWare or VirtualBox to set up a bunch of virtual machines and build your virtual datacenter on your desktop.

(I would recommend VMWare for business use and VirtualBox for home use)

Answer 2

I'm a big fan of MongoDB. It's the NoSQL equivalent of MySQL.

Go to the Try It Out link on their home page and you can actually use it in a live session on their website - no download, no configuration, no hassle! Just use it and learn the basics.

Answer 3

Here's the quick start for Cassandra. http://wiki.apache.org/cassandra/GettingStarted

I don't see any reason you couldnt run that from local host. I think the point is that you Can scale these nosql solutions. Might want to check out mongodb or couchdb as well. Easy set up and both are great nosql solutions in my experience.

Answer 4

I would strongly suggest using something like Amazon EC2 for testing NoSQL solutions. You can definitely install a technology like MongoDB locally and create a replica set, but you should definitely put these on different physical machines if you can.

I have installed things like AppFabric, Couchbase and Mongo locally and created clusters and they always work really well locally. It's very easy because the networking part of it always goes smoothly.

Once you introduce two physical machines and a stronger network partition things get difficult.

You can create instances on EC2 for free last I checked if you use their Micro instances. You'll learn a lot.