NoSQL database is a type of database that does not require a fixed schema. It is non-relational and non-relational and usually avoids joins in preference of schema variation for achieving better performance. It is also very easy to scale based on the application’s NEEDS. NoSQL is used for storing huge data in a distributed manner. NoSQL DATABASES are of four types:

• Column-based - These organize data in columns instead of rows. The rows in these databases have many columns associated with them. These are useful in fraud detection systems, catalogues, recommendation engines etc. Example: Cassandra, Hypertable, Hbase, Amazon DynamoDB etc
• Graph-based - These organize data into nodes and edges. The edges show connections between different nodes. It is multi-relational. These are mostly used in social networks, LOGISTIC domain etc. Example: Neo4J, OrientDB, Infinite Graph, FlockDB etc
• Document-based - These types store semi-structured data in the form of documents. These are similar to key-value type databases and the difference is that the values in this type store values in the form of JSON, BSON, XML etc. Example: MongoDB, RavenDB, Terrastore etc
• Key-value - SIMPLE NoSQL data model consisting of unique keys and values linked with it. It performs efficiently and is highly scalable. Redis and Memcached are some examples of this database type and is mostly used in caching applications, session MANAGEMENT.