SQL vs NoSQL vs NewSQL: A Comparative Study of Modern Database Technologies

Abstract

The rapid development of modern digital technologies, such as cloud computing, social networking platforms, and Internet of Things (IoT) systems, has significantly increased both the quantity and complexity of data generated by organizations. This growing demand has led to the need for more advanced and efficient database management approaches. As a result, three major database paradigms have evolved: SQL, NoSQL, and NewSQL. Relational databases based on SQL store data in structured tables and maintain strong data integrity by following ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) principles. These characteristics make them highly suitable for applications that require accurate and reliable transactions, such as financial systems and enterprise applications. In contrast, NoSQL databases were developed to overcome the limitations of traditional relational systems, especially in handling large-scale and distributed data. They provide flexible data models and support horizontal scaling, allowing them to efficiently manage different types of data, including document-based, key-value, column-oriented, and graph-based formats. NewSQL databases represent a modern approach that combines the advantages of both SQL and NoSQL systems. They preserve the structured data model and strong consistency of relational databases while also offering improved scalability and performance similar to NoSQL solutions. This paper conducts a structured comparison of all three database paradigms, examining their architectural differences, scalability characteristics, consistency guarantees, and practical trade-offs, with the objective of enabling researchers, practitioners, and system architects to make well-informed technology decisions.