Open Source Databases Flourish, MongoDB Honored

From cloud developers working to incorporate databases with their deployments to enterprises that want more flexibility from their data repositories, open source databases are flourishing. As a matter of fact, DB-Engines is out with its annual ranking of databases, based on popularity, and all three top databases and tools for 2014 are open source.

MongoDB took the number one spot, as it has before, and Redis, used for managing data, and Elasticsearch, which helps developers build their own search engines, are runners up. If you think the Big Data trend begins and ends with Hadoop, think again.

For determining the DBMS of the year, DB-Engines subtracted the popularity scores of January 2014 from the latest scores of January 2015. The differences in the numbers illustrate which tools increased their popularity in 2014 most. DB-Engines also takes into account chatter, job requirement citations and other metrics.

According to the site's editors:

"MongoDB has been the most popular NoSQL system since we started our ranking more than two years ago. It has gained an impressive degree of reputation and popularity, so that many people start here when looking for alternative, non-relational systems. MongoDB has managed to create the feature set, stability and infrastructure ecosystem, that satisfies the requirements of many use cases, so that often people see no need to look any further once they have acquainted themselves with MongoDB. There is no shortage of competition in the fast evolving area of database management systems, and many of the more than 200 systems in our ranking offer specialized features and high quality. The database world is expanding in many directions, but MongoDB seems to have taken a direction that many developers like to follow."

Redis has established itself as a preferred solution for all forms of caching problems, but it can be much more than that according to DB-Engines. "While it is still rare that a complex application is based entirely on Redis, the uncompromising design principles of Redis focusing on performance, simplicity and stability together with a feature set that is based more on user feedback than on any database theory, often make it an excellent basis for selected parts of complex systems," the editors report.

Solr is still the most popular open search engine, but Elasticsearch got strong notices from DB-Engines. "Elasticsearch and Solr are both based on Apache Lucene, and in many ways they are quite similar, but Elasticsearch as the younger of the two systems seems to have the momentum on its side," DB-Engines notes.

Dev Ittycheria, President & CEO of MongoDB, wrote: "We are honored to be recognized as the Database of the Year by DB-Engines. This acknowledgement is a clear testament to our large and fast growing community of users, customers and partners who have made us the most popular and leading database management system. Our community, coupled with our incredibly talented employees located around the world, clearly position MongoDB for accelerated growth and increasing market share."