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Will Triple Stores Replace Relational Databases?. Presented by Gentre Dozier and Spencer Dille http://www.information-management.com/newsletters/database_metadata_unstructured_data_triple_store-10020158-1.html. What is a Triplestore?.
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Will Triple Stores Replace Relational Databases? Presented by Gentre Dozier and Spencer Dille http://www.information-management.com/newsletters/database_metadata_unstructured_data_triple_store-10020158-1.html
What is a Triplestore? • A triplestore is designed for storing information in many short pieces called triples. • Each triple represents a subject-predicate-object relationship and is stored in a graph based model. • RDF (Resource Description Framework) is an abstract model in which a triple is encoded. • Take this example statement: “Grass is the color green.” How would you store this information in a triple? • Here the Subject is ‘Grass’ • The Predicate is ‘is the color’ (think of this as a Column) • The Object is ‘Green’
Do Triplestores offer an advantage over RDMS? • No need to create schemas. • No need to link tables because you can have one to many relationships directly. • Can create new Predicates (again, think columns) on the fly. • You can also run queries off of this data, just like in a relational database model.
Standardization • There are several standards for triple stores proposed on the W3 Consortium: RDF, RDFS, OWL, and SPARQL. • In order to gain large scale acceptance, standardization is critical. Standardization is what made SQL popular.
Unstructured Data • Unstructured data is becoming more and more common. (email, spreadsheet, etc.) • How do we best handle unstructured data? Relational databases are not the answer. • So do you use XML or RDF? • XML is not as flexible as RDF in dealing with graphs.
Need for standardized metadata • Metadata helps describe the content of data files. • This is extremely important when you are talking about unstructured data. • Creating a standard will help push forward the use of triple stores • Google recently purchased the biggest RDF-based encyclopedia on the Web and formally announced that it will use RDF embedded in Web pages. Yahoo and Microsoft are also following in their footsteps.
Summary • The author believes that triple stores offer more flexibility and is more powerful to write complex queries. • In the short term Relational Databases and Triple Stores will live side by side. • Many companies are already using Triple Stores on top of their existing relational databases.