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Why beat the SQL drum?

by Renen Watermeyer on Fri, 14 May 2010

A few days ago I was asked, in our freenode forum (#knowledgetree), where the KnowledgeTree team stood on the various no-Sql database options that are currently so trendy.

My immediate reaction was: well they’re not there yet...

Then, last night, some friends asked me why I even continue to beat the SQL drum at all. This took me by some surprise (and precipitated a passionate and heated argument!).

Every time I look at the no-Sql space it becomes a little more defined. Clearly it’s time to re-evaluate and unpack this topic in a little more detail. And KnowledgeTree provides a great context for this analysis.

Several of the no-Sql databases look like they could be great fits for KnowledgeTree. Hell, they even call one class of these databases “Document Stores.” In particular, MongoDb and CouchDb stand out. They store large files very efficiently and they are reasonably quick (certainly MongoDb has a great reputation).

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KnowledgeTree vs The Shared Drive

by Renen Watermeyer on Thu, 15 Apr 2010

KnowledgeTree has a deserved reputation as the little DMS that could. If I’m preaching to the choir, you already know that KnowledgeTree is:

  • Affordable
  • Easy to use
  • Integrated with Microsoft Office
  • Part of a vibrant community


But, perhaps you’re not singing with the choir and your reaction is: “well, a shared drive is equally accessible and much simpler”? Clearly, you are partly right: a shared drive is, at many levels, very functional. But, let’s unpack the concept a little. First, we need to answer, what are you really trying to achieve? I’m going to guess that the baseline list of things you want from a shared drive (or document management system) is probably something along these lines:

 

  1. Work with the tools and packages that you use on a day to day basis

  2. Provide a repository or history that you can interrogate to see who changed a file and when
  3. Allow people to search for files across the entire business

And, then, if you’re like me, you might want to add a few nice to haves:

  1. Make sure that the folks in support can’t access the budget documents over in finance

  2. Know who accessed which documents and when

Now, armed with these criteria, let’s look at how a shared drive stacks up against KnowledgeTree:

 

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