Operational Database

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What Does Operational Database Mean?

An operational database is a database that is used to manage
and store data in real time. An operational database is
the source for a data warehouse. Elements in an operational database can be
added and removed on the fly. These databases can be either SQL or NoSQL-based, where the latter is geared toward real-time operations.

Techopedia Explains Operational Database

An operational database is a database that stores data inside of an enterprise. They can contain things like payroll
records, customer information and employee data. They are critical to data
warehousing and business analytics operations.

The key characteristic of
operational databases is their orientation toward real-time operations,
compared with conventional databases that rely on batch processing. With
operational databases, records can be added, removed and modified in real
time. Operational database management systems can be based on SQL but a growing number are using NoSQL and nonstructured data.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.