Chapter 1. Introduction to Couchbase

This chapter will introduce a new type of database technology called NoSQL. You too are a contributor to the evolution of this technology. Surprised? You do have a Facebook account, upload pictures, and use messenger services, such as WeChat, WhatsApp, right? The data in these are generated at a fast rate and in huge amounts (terabytes per day). They also vary in format or structure. We usually use the term big data for such types of data. Such large amounts of data can't be handled by a traditional relational database management system. That is why a new way needs to be discovered to solve this. This is how NoSQL came into existence. This chapter will introduce you to NoSQL and its fundamentals. Next, you will be introduced to one of the fastest NoSQL databases in the world, called Couchbase. Right, you read it correct! It's the fastest database since all of the data is, by default, cached in the RAM or volatile memory, and the most interesting part is that you don't need to do any configuration for caching the data. Everything will be taken care of by Couchbase Server. Following this, you will learn to install Couchbase Server in Windows and Linux environments. Finally, this chapter will introduce you to the various logs and configuration folders.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• What is NoSQL and why do we need it?
• Couchbase architecture
• Concepts of Couchbase