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copied!<p>TL;DR; <strong>Unless you have a really imperative reason to organize your data in a different way just go with the relational DBMS option instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.</strong></p> <p>In terms of data a relational database is, almost always, the best option. Is been optimized for searching and has a relatively good performance for inserts and updates while at the same time maintaining a reasonable level of structure, as well as adhering to a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_normalization" rel="nofollow">series of normal forms</a> to enforce structure and good design decisions.</p> <hr> <p>A "data" "base" is always required when you're storing data in a structured organized way. So you'll always need a database, the actual implementation of the database and the way the information is organized is called DBMS (database management system) and in that sense you have a lot of options.</p> <p>Out of the top of my mind, in terms of the way the database is organized you have non-relational databases (usually called NO-SQL database)</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document-oriented_database" rel="nofollow">Document-oriented databases</a>.</li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_database" rel="nofollow">Graph Databases</a></li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key-value_store" rel="nofollow">Key Value Store databases</a></li> </ul> <p>to quote a few.</p> <p>You have several relational DBMS at your disposal:</p> <ul> <li>Oracle</li> <li>Sql Server</li> <li>Postgree SQL</li> <li>MySql</li> <li>Sqllite</li> </ul> <p>And even other kind of DBMS which are not generic but application specific.</p> <p>In general, your choice of the backend database should be determined by your necessities now and what you think you'll need in the future in terms of:</p> <ul> <li>The data that you're going to maintain and manage</li> <li>How you <em>think</em> about the data</li> <li>Performance restrictions and non functional requirements.</li> <li>The level of familiarity of you team with the new technology versus the well know relational-sql pair.</li> <li>The logical organization of the data and how you plan to access it.</li> </ul>

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