Probably the first thing to understand about nosql is that there is no standard, there are multiple paradigms to chose from. Broad differences in storage model

Probably the first thing to understand about nosql is that there is no standard, there are multiple paradigms to chose from. Broad differences in storage models: * Column Oriented Storage (e.g. HBase) * Document Store (e.g. CouchDB, MongoDB) * Key-Value (e.g. BerkeleyDB, TokyoCabinet, REDIS) * Graph DB (Neo4J) Furthermore each will have their own consistency, replication & availability models, as well as read/write optimisations. Before choosing one you need to ensure it is adapted to your usage pattern. Here are some links that go into more detail: A visual comparison, comparing trade-offs of each type of nosql db: http://blog.nahurst.com/visual-guide-to-nosql-systems http://blog.nahurst.com/visual-guide-to-nosql-systems Article on appropriate use-cases for each type of nosql: http://blog.heroku.com/archives/2010/7/20/nosql/ http://blog.heroku.com/archives/2010/7/20/nosql/ NoSQL - the 'definitive guide' (apparently): http://nosql-berlinbuzzwords2010.heroku.com/#1 http://nosql-berlinbuzzwords2010.heroku.com/#1 Further resources: http://nosql-database.org/ http://nosql-database.org/ And here's a link on data from the top of HN today: http://www.junauza.com/2010/11/free-data-mining-software.html http://www.junauza.com/2010/11/free-data-mining-software.htm...