# Relational Databases: What You Need to Know Databases are everywhere, and it is safe to say that the most common type is the relational data model. SQL Server, MySQL, Firebase, MongoDB, Oracle, PostgreSQL are a few examples of the [best relational database software](https://www.geekg8.com/best-database-software/) in the market today. **What are Relational databases?** Relational databases require the integrity and accuracy of the information. The correctness of the data, whether your database is well-designed and developed, is guaranteed, but this takes time, so it can be said that this type of database is efficient but not fast. This type of database is ideal for banks, business management software and online stores. Over the years, relational databases have gotten better, faster, stronger, and easier to work with. But they have also become more complex, and managing the database has become a new career long ago. Rather than use their expertise to develop innovative applications that add value to the business, developers have to spend most of their time on the management activity necessary to optimize database performance. The autonomous technology builds on the strengths of the relational model to offer a new type of relational database. The standalone database maintains the power and benefits of the relational model. Still, it uses Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and automation to monitor and improve queries and management tasks. For example, to improve query performance, the standalone database can hypothesize and test indexes to make queries faster and then push the best ones into production all on its own. The independent database makes these improvements on an ongoing basis, without the need to involve humans. Autonomous technology frees developers from the routine tasks of managing the database. For example, they no longer have to determine infrastructure requirements in advance. Instead, with a separate database, they can add, compute and store resources as needed to support database growth. With just a few steps, developers can easily create a standalone relational database, speeding up time to application development. **What to look for when selecting a reliable relational database management system?** The software used to store, manage, query, and retrieve data stored in a relational database is called a relational database management system (RDBMS). The RDBMS provides an interface between users and applications and the database and administrative functions to manage data storage, access, and performance. Several factors can guide your decision when choosing between database types and relational database products. The RDBMS you choose will depend on the needs of your business. If you are unclear where to begin, asking these questions might be a good start. **Data accuracy requirements** It would help if you considered whether data storage and accuracy depend on business logic and whether data have strict accuracy requirements, such as financial data and government reports. **Scalability needs** Consider the scale of the data to be managed and what is its expected growth. Does your database model need to support duplicate database copies as separate instances for scalability or not. **Important of concurrency** Do multiple users and applications need simultaneous access to the database in your company, and how does the database software support concurrency while protecting the data? **Performance and reliability needs** Does your business require a high-performance and high-reliability product, and what are the requirements for query-response performance? What are the vendor commitments for service level agreements (SLAs) or unplanned downtime?