Amazon's SimpleDB is precisely what its name implies: it is a simple database. Data is sorted in SimpleDB as name/value pairs, organized into items. The architecture of SimpleDB is best visualized as a table in a spreadsheet: attributes are columns, items are rows, and values are cell contents. Operations in SimpleDB are a minimalist's dream, and yet it offers a relatively sophisticated set of querying capabilties. SimpleDB is ideal for persistent storage and searching of structured data, if you can live without the sophistication and safeguards (and overhead) of a traditional SQL database.
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