Where can I learn about the different types of databases?

Question

I am looking into creating a web application that will make heavy use of a database to store data about the different users. Problem is, I don't really know that much about databases, especially in an environment that will (hopefully) have lots of traffic.

I have used MySQL before for some basic websites (college clubs, blog, low traffic stuff), but have heard this isn't a good choice for a real application.

Where can I learn more about the different databases out there? I have tried Google and Wikipedia, but there is just so much information I don't know where to start...

Answer 1

Write down your application's functional and non-functional requirements. Translate these into the conditions that the database must satisfy. Then match those with the readily available lists of features.

MySQL is used as a backend database on some large web sites.

(My preference is SQL Server, but it's not free like MySQL...)

Answer 2

I'm going to answer the question you asked:

    You can learn about the different types of databases on Wikipedia.

EDIT: Whoops, I missed where you said you were already reading Wikipedia. What isn't mentioned on there that you wish was?

Next I'm going to tell you something you may or may not know already.

    People change database backends in programs. 
    This is where having well written code can be a benefit, 
    because you keep your data access separate from your business logic. 
    Therefore, all the database logic can be easily reworked to continue 
    returning the data you need, and the business logic doesn't change.

Did you have a different question, or was this what you wanted to know?

As with all things, you should profile to find what's keeping your program slow or nonscalable. Plenty of high power websites were built on databases like MySQL or Postgres. They wrote the app, then profiled, then decided to change or stay.