Overview of Databases and Data Storage - 2024-04-11

This workshop provides a broad overview of the various technologies for storing and organizing different collections of data. We will discuss how data structure and data types impact your storage options, when you should use a database, and which platforms you might consider for your research. This workshop is a general lecture with case studies and Q&A (no laptops necessary).

This workshop is a prerequisite for DataLab’s “Getting Started with SQL for Querying Databases” workshop and part of the Research Computing micro-credential.

By the end of this workshop, learners should be able to:

• compare and contrast different data storage options;
• explain the differences between SQL and noSQL databases;
• explain the components of an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD);
• define relational keys; and
• identify candidate data storage solutions based on the structure of a research dataset.

This workshop has no prerequisites and will not involve any coding. It is designed for researchers with active or planned data projects.