Data Architecture

Data architecture covers how data is stored, accessed, and flows through a system. Database choice is one of the highest-impact architectural decisions.

What’s Here

Data Formats

bson — Binary JSON, MongoDB’s data format
base64-encoding — Encoding binary data as ASCII text
hashing — Hash functions for integrity, lookup, and cryptography
cdn — Content delivery networks and caching strategies

Databases

README — Database selection guide
README — PostgreSQL deep dive
README — MongoDB deep dive
normalization — Normal forms and when to denormalize
indexing — Index design for query performance
database-schema-design — Schema design principles
foreign-keys-and-constraints — Referential integrity
opm-or-not-to-orm — ORM trade-offs

Database Selection

Use Case	Database Type	Examples
Financial transactions	Relational (ACID)	PostgreSQL, MySQL
Flexible schema	Document	MongoDB, CouchDB
High-volume time series	Time-series	InfluxDB, TimescaleDB
Key-value cache	In-memory	Redis, Memcached
Graph relationships	Graph	Neo4j
Search	Search engine	Elasticsearch, OpenSearch
Wide-column	Column-family	Cassandra, DynamoDB

Quick Links

Topic	Key Question
normalization	Should I normalize or denormalize my schema?
indexing	How do I design indexes for performance?
opm-or-not-to-orm	Should I use an ORM or raw SQL?
cdn	When should I use a CDN?
hashing	What hashing algorithm for what purpose?

caching — Caching layer in front of databases
availability — Database availability patterns
README — Async data pipelines