I thought this article was really good at explaining the differences of relational DBs and Key/Value stores and some other models coming down the pipe (i.e. the new buzzword "Cloud Computing").
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/is_the_relational_database_doomed.php Will mySQL be adaptable to plug in these other types of engines (as we do for InnoDB, MYISM, Falcon, Maria, etc.) Page 3 does mention Drizzle, but that's also (as they said) a counter-approach to key/value stores. These new types still use a key so it would be awesome if you could seamlessly reference (foreign) keys in these new domains/"tables" along with your INNODB keys, etc. "Cross-engine compatibility" if you will. ...and on a semi-related topic, I've just learned of this mysql engine: http://www.tokutek.com and hadn't heard a peep about it on this list before?! iiBench - Insertions Only: http://blogs.tokutek.com/tokuview/iibench_fractal_tree_results/ iiBench - with Deletions: http://blogs.tokutek.com/tokuview/iibench_with_deletes/
