Introduction to ledger databases

In the previous chapters of this book, we primarily made use of the capabilities of RDBMSs to help us solve various types of data integrity issues and challenges. While this type of database would be a good default option for most finance and technology professionals, other types of purpose-built databases can offer significant advantages in specific use cases. These purpose-built databases may include NoSQL databases, graph databases, time-series databases, and more, each designed to excel in handling particular data models and workloads. One such example that maintains an immutable and verifiable record of transactions over time is the ledger database. This type of database makes use of financial ledger concepts where each journal is appended only and cannot be altered once recorded. Because of these properties, companies from various industries that have strict requirements, which require transparency can make use of this type of database.

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