Microsoft Azure Advanced: Cosmos DB

Name: Microsoft Azure Advanced: Cosmos DB
Author: Steven Burnley

Learn about Cosmos DB and how it can be used to build solutions

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Course: On-Demand

Hello. In this lesson, you will learn about the Azure Cosmos Database. You'll explore common scenarios for using a Cosmos Database. We will look at common scenarios where developers would choose different APIs, and finally, how to look at the Cosmos Database through the SDK in use at the command line. In this lesson, I will show you what the Azure Cosmos Database is and common solutions for using the Cosmos Database. Cosmos Database is a new Cloud -based database architecture for large -scale distributed applications. Cosmos Databases can be spread throughout the Azure environment and provides very high reliability and very high performance. Cosmos Database can scale to dramatic amounts of records and is a good choice for very large enterprise applications or large -scale commercial applications. The Cosmos DB is a NoSQL database, but can also perform as a relational database. That makes the Cosmos DB a very flexible resource for programmers who want to build enterprise scalable applications, but need potentially different APIs based upon existing knowledge or needs of their current application. The scalability of the Cosmos Database is its primary feature. It is a way to scale and replicate different sections of a database or what could be called shards of a database across many different regions in the Azure environment. This allows you to store data near the customers that will need it, but also allow your application to grow exponentially based on use. You can see the serverless application architecture means you do not have to declare specific machines or pay for dedicated computers. You build on what is called a serverless architecture, which allows it to scale as your needs grow. This provides a flexible way for developers to build applications that may have unpredictable workloads or spiked traffic, where there are large influxes of information periodically. Because the Cosmos DB is primarily a data storage concept, there are many different ways to interact with the Cosmos DB database files. We call these the different APIs. APIs are programmer -specific and they allow programmers to pick technologies that they are familiar with or technologies that support the architecture demands of the application they're building. For example, the PostgreSQL is a popular open -source SQL -based API for programmers who need to read and write information to traditional relational databases. While the Cosmos DB is not a traditional SQL database, Azure provides an SQL -based API that is compliant with the PostgreSQL standard. This allows developers to have transparent access to the global scalable Cosmos DB and use that database as if it was a traditional PostgreSQL database. You can see here in this architecture diagram that we are able to execute commands against the Postgre database as if it was a single resource. The Azure Cosmos DB API intercepts this information and converts this into the underlying structure of the Cosmos database. This means that the API of PostgreSQL is transparent to the developer. The application does not know that it is using Cosmos DB. This is also true for applications that need the MongoDB API. For developers who are developing with the MongoDB API, they can also take advantage of the Cosmos DB and its scalable global architecture and have this be transparent to the developer and the application who's using it. This allows developers to use MongoDB in their applications if they need a document -based database. Cosmos DB has become a very flexible, scalable new way to store distributed information throughout the Cloud using a variety of the APIs that you see at the top of this table. This allows the Cosmos DB to store four different types of data. Traditional key -value pairs that you would see in an SQL database, column family architecture, hierarchical document databases, or graph databases. You can see the variety of APIs at the top of the screen, including traditional SQL, JavaScript, Gremlin, a simple data table API, or the MongoDB. Stay tuned for the next lesson where I'll show you how to create a Cosmos database and select the appropriate API for your application architecture. Thanks for watching.

Advanced Provider : Steven Burnley 3 Lessons · 18m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

Cosmos DB is a document database, which is different from traditional SQL databases. The Cosmos DB was designed specifically for the cloud and allows administrators to store the database across many regions within the Azure cloud. This provides a highly scalable foundation that can support large volumes of data. The Cosmos DB has advanced options for partitioning and replication, which supports a global data distribution. Several database consistency options give developers flexibility when designing database update transactions. Developers also have a choice of which APIs to use when working with a cosmos database. These include NoSQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, Gremlin, and a generic Table API. These allow teams to adopt Cosmos DB while still using technologies that they are already familiar with.

In this course, you will learn about Cosmos DB and how developers can use this document database to build custom web solutions.

What You'll Learn

Review how the Cosmos DB works as a cloud-designed document database
Explore common scenarios for using a Cosmos DB
Compare the alternative APIs developers can use when accessing a Cosmos DB, including NoSQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, Gremlin, and the generic Table API
Examine examples of how to modify a Cosmos DB
Understand Cosmos DB partitioning and replication options that support global data distribution
Use the Cosmos DB SDK and database logic to build custom web solutions

Key Takeaways

Cosmos DB is a document database that differs from traditional SQL databases and was designed specifically for the cloud.
It lets administrators store the database across many regions within the Azure cloud, providing a highly scalable foundation for large volumes of data.
Cosmos DB has advanced partitioning and replication options that support global data distribution.
Several database consistency options give developers flexibility when designing database update transactions.
Developers can choose among NoSQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, Gremlin, and a generic Table API, letting teams adopt Cosmos DB while using technologies they already know.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Cosmos DB and how is it different from a traditional database?

Cosmos DB is a document database that differs from traditional SQL databases. It was designed specifically for the cloud and allows administrators to store the database across many regions within the Azure cloud.

Who is this course for?

The course is for developers who want to learn about Cosmos DB and how to use this document database to build custom web solutions.

Which APIs does the course cover for accessing Cosmos DB?

The course compares the alternative APIs developers can use, including NoSQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, Gremlin, and a generic Table API.

What topics or lessons are included?

The course includes three lessons: Cosmos DB Concepts; Exploring the Cosmos DB APIs; and Cosmos DB SDK and Database Logic.

What skills does this course relate to?

It relates to skills including Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Data Catalog, Cloud Database, and SQL Azure, and aligns with the Microsoft Certified: Azure Cosmos DB Developer Specialty and Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate certifications.