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DBMS > Apache Cassandra vs. Informix vs. PostgreSQL

System Properties Comparison Apache Cassandra vs. Informix vs. PostgreSQL

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Editorial information provided by DB-Engines
NameApache Cassandra  Xexclude from comparisonInformix  Xexclude from comparisonPostgreSQL  Xexclude from comparison
DescriptionWide-column store based on ideas of BigTable and DynamoDB infoOptimized for write accessA secure embeddable database from IBM, positioned besides IBM Db2 as a relatively low-cost product optimized for OLTP and Internet of Things dataWidely used open source RDBMS infoDeveloped as objectoriented DBMS (Postgres), gradually enhanced with 'standards' like SQL
Primary database modelWide column storeRelational DBMS infoSince Version 12.10 support for JSON/BSON datatypes compatible with MongoDBRelational DBMS infowith object oriented extensions, e.g.: user defined types/functions and inheritance. Handling of key/value pairs with hstore module.
Secondary database modelsVector DBMS infostarting with release V5Document store
Spatial DBMS
Time Series DBMS infowith Informix TimeSeries Extension
Document store
Graph DBMS infowith Apache Age
Spatial DBMS
Vector DBMS infowith pgvector extension
DB-Engines Ranking infomeasures the popularity of database management systemsranking trend
Trend Chart
Score99.13
Rank#12  Overall
#1  Wide column stores
Score17.56
Rank#34  Overall
#21  Relational DBMS
Score638.91
Rank#4  Overall
#4  Relational DBMS
Websitecassandra.apache.orgwww.ibm.com/­products/­informixwww.postgresql.org
Technical documentationcassandra.apache.org/­doc/­latestinformix.hcldoc.com
www.ibm.com/­support/­knowledgecenter/­SSGU8G/­welcomeIfxServers.html
www.postgresql.org/­docs
DeveloperApache Software Foundation infoApache top level project, originally developped by FacebookIBM, HCL Technologies infoEffective May 1st, 2017, HCL took on development, technical support, and product management teams, and works jointly with IBM on product strategy, marketing, and sales.PostgreSQL Global Development Group infowww.postgresql.org/­developer
Initial release200819841989 info1989: Postgres, 1996: PostgreSQL
Current release5.0-rc1, July 202414.10.FC5, November 202016.3, May 2024
License infoCommercial or Open SourceOpen Source infoApache version 2commercial infofree developer edition availableOpen Source infoBSD
Cloud-based only infoOnly available as a cloud servicenonono
DBaaS offerings (sponsored links) infoDatabase as a Service

Providers of DBaaS offerings, please contact us to be listed.
Astra DB: Multi-cloud DBaaS built on Apache Cassandra.PostgreSQL Flex @ STACKIT offers managed PostgreSQL Instances with adjustable CPU, RAM, storage amount and speed and several extensions available, in enterprise grade to perfectly match all application requirements. All 100% GDPR-compliant.
Implementation languageJavaC, C++ and JavaC
Server operating systemsBSD
Linux
OS X
Windows
AIX
HP-UX
Linux
macOS
Solaris
Windows
FreeBSD
HP-UX
Linux
NetBSD
OpenBSD
OS X
Solaris
Unix
Windows
Data schemeschema-freeyesyes
Typing infopredefined data types such as float or dateyesyes infoSince Version 12.10 support for JSON/BSON datatypesyes
XML support infoSome form of processing data in XML format, e.g. support for XML data structures, and/or support for XPath, XQuery or XSLT.noyes infospecific XML-type available, but no XML query functionality.
Secondary indexesrestricted infoonly equality queries, not always the best performing solutionyesyes
SQL infoSupport of SQLSQL-like SELECT, DML and DDL statements (CQL)yesyes infostandard with numerous extensions
APIs and other access methodsProprietary protocol infoCQL (Cassandra Query Language, an SQL-like language)
Thrift
JDBC
JSON API infoMongoDB compatible
MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport)
ODBC
RESTful HTTP API
ADO.NET
JDBC
native C library
ODBC
streaming API for large objects
Supported programming languagesC#
C++
Clojure
Erlang
Go
Haskell
Java
JavaScript infoNode.js
Perl
PHP
Python
Ruby
Scala
.Net
C
C++
Java
JavaScript (Node.js)
PHP
Python
Ruby
.Net
C
C++
Delphi
Java infoJDBC
JavaScript (Node.js)
Perl
PHP
Python
Tcl
Server-side scripts infoStored proceduresnoyesuser defined functions inforealized in proprietary language PL/pgSQL or with common languages like Perl, Python, Tcl etc.
Triggersyesyesyes
Partitioning methods infoMethods for storing different data on different nodesSharding infono "single point of failure"Shardingpartitioning by range, list and (since PostgreSQL 11) by hash
Replication methods infoMethods for redundantly storing data on multiple nodesselectable replication factor infoRepresentation of geographical distribution of servers is possibleMulti-source replication
Source-replica replication
Source-replica replication infoother methods possible by using 3rd party extensions
MapReduce infoOffers an API for user-defined Map/Reduce methodsyesnono
Consistency concepts infoMethods to ensure consistency in a distributed systemEventual Consistency
Immediate Consistency infocan be individually decided for each write operation
Immediate ConsistencyImmediate Consistency
Foreign keys infoReferential integritynoyesyes
Transaction concepts infoSupport to ensure data integrity after non-atomic manipulations of datano infoAtomicity and isolation are supported for single operationsACIDACID
Concurrency infoSupport for concurrent manipulation of datayesyesyes
Durability infoSupport for making data persistentyesyesyes
In-memory capabilities infoIs there an option to define some or all structures to be held in-memory only.noyesno
User concepts infoAccess controlAccess rights for users can be defined per objectUsers with fine-grained authentication, authorization, and auditing controlsfine grained access rights according to SQL-standard
More information provided by the system vendor
Apache CassandraInformixPostgreSQL
Specific characteristicsApache Cassandra is the leading NoSQL, distributed database management system, well...
» more
Competitive advantagesNo single point of failure ensures 100% availability . Operational simplicity for...
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Typical application scenariosInternet of Things (IOT), fraud detection applications, recommendation engines, product...
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Key customersApple, Netflix, Uber, ING,, Intuit,Fidelity, NY Times, Outbrain, BazaarVoice, Best...
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Market metricsApache Cassandra is used by 40% of the Fortune 100.
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Licensing and pricing modelsApache license  Pricing for commercial distributions provided by DataStax and available...
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