Dedicated to design and performance of databases and audio systems.
Two databases I prefer, albeit for different reasons, are
Teradata is a MPP architecture for data warehousing, reporting and analytics. With its UDA, Teradata, Aster and Hadoop are all integrated via an Infiniband internal network. Structured data and semi-structured Big Data exist within the same environment and can all be queried together. Teradata has arguably the best optimizer in the industry.
Their optimizer is world class, no doubt about it as one of the most notable independent names in the industry once said to me.
Conversely, MongoDB is a NoSQL, schema-less database which is better suited for Internet-age processing needs like blogs, eCommerce, etc. While it can handle some light BI its strength is with retrieval. Performing search and look-ups of data from disparate sources via indexed collections. Additionally, there are Hadoop connectors with MongoDB.
Like with database design and query optimization, I truly enjoy extracting the most performance from my audio system. Experimenting with different modifications (e.g. cartridges, tubes, maple and brass dampening) and sources like 180g/200g vinyl and 24-bit/96KHz+ hi-resolution digital, offer some incredible gains.
The blogs contain a variety of solutions and practices I use. I hope you find them beneficial.