About
A database is a collection of structured data. It is a place in which data is stored and organized. There are many types of databases, including Relational Databases, Object-Oriented Databases, Hierarchical Databases, Document Databases, and NoSQL Databases. Each type of databases organizes the data differently.
Database Access
WPI currently offers access to a few Relational Database servers.
WPI faculty, staff, and students can request a database to be hosted on one of WPI's database servers. Whether taking a course, working on a project, part of a club, or for personal experiments/learning, WPI community members can create a full database on one of our servers to incorporate with whatever project you are working on!
Relational Databases
A Relational Database is a collection of data with pre-defined relationships between them. Relational databases organize the data in sets of tables with columns and rows. The columns store a certain kind of data, while the fields within the column store the value of the attribute. The rows typically store the unique identifier (or primary key).
WPI currently offers the following Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) servers:
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL (Postgres)
If there is a database you'd like to use that is not listed, contact ITS.
SQL
SQL (Structured Query Language) is a language used for querying and maintaining the database.