Small "embeddable" database that can also be synced over the network?

Question

I am looking for a small database that can be "embedded" into my Python application without running a separate server, as one can do with SQLite or Metakit. I don't need an SQL database, in fact storing free-form data like Python dictionaries or JSON is preferable.

The other requirement is that to be able to run an instance of the database on a server, and have instances of my application (clients) sync the database with the server (two-way), similar to what CouchDB replication can do.

Is there a database that will do this?

Answer 1

HSQLDB does this, but unfortunately it's Java rather than Python.

Firebird SQL might be closer to what you want, since it does seem to have a Python interface.

Answer 2

If you don't need an SQL database, what's wrong with CouchDB? You can spawn a local process to serve the DB, and you could easily write a server wrapper to allow only access from your app. I'm not sure about the access story, but I believe the latest Ubuntu uses CouchDB for synchronizeable user-level data.

Answer 3

Seems like the perfect job for CouchDB: 2 way sync is incredibly easy, schema-less JSON documents are the native format. If you're using python, couchdb-python is a great way to work with CouchDB.

Answer 4

Do you need clients to work offline and then resync when they reconnect to the network? I don't know if MongoDB can handle the offline client scenario, but if the client is online all the time, MongoDB might be a good solution too. It has pretty goode python support. Still a separate process, but perhaps easier to get running on Windows than CouchDB.

Answer 5

From what you describe, it sounds like you could get by using pickle and FTP.

Answer 6

BerkeleyDB might be another option to check out, and it's lightweight enough. easy_install bsddb3 if you need a Python interface.