My background is relational databases i.e., boolean Algebra, E.F Codd, Microsoft SQL.  However, NoSQL databases are increasingly used in big data and real-time web applications. If you business needs involve unstructured data, it’s time to give Azure a look.  

Microsoft Azure has many options for storing and working with data, including:

  • Table storage, which provides an easy way to quickly access data using key values that describe the data.
  • The traditional relational option via SQL Azure.
  • The DocumentDB route for unstructured data, which allows you to work with data via a RESTFul interface that takes advantage of JSON — store, retrieve, and interact via JSON.

DocumentDB allows you to query all data in the document, while table storage only works with metadata outside the document.

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