The introduction of blockchain technology has revolutionized the way organizations operate. The advanced features of this technology have completely changed the way of data sharing between and within organizations. This technology is popular among organizations due to its differences from the conventional technologies.
In this article, we try to answer the question ‘How is Blockchain different from traditional database model’ by looking at some features of both blockchain and traditional database models. Before we delve deeper into comparing both technologies, let’s understand what is the basic difference between a database and a blockchain.
Are Blockchain and Databases Similar?
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The answer to this question lies at the end of this section. But to understand how we reached there; you should go through the next few lines.
Traditional databases work on tables while blockchain technology works on blocks. What this means is that traditional databases store data in a tabular format. Every time we enter some new data into these, it gets added like a row or column is added into a table. The point to be noted here is that, in a table all the rows and columns are independent. They have no implicit relationship among them.
While blockchain technology works by adding blocks. Every time new data is added to this, it is added in the form of blocks. Each block is connected with previous blocks present in the chain. This makes information traceable.
So, we have gone through the basic structural differences between blockchain and traditional databases. It is quite clear that blockchain is not similar to traditional databases. Though both are used to manage data, there are many differences. Let’s have a look at how blockchain differs from traditional databases.
Blockchain Features Explain How Is Blockchain Different from Traditional Database Model
The advanced features of the blockchain make It different from traditional record-keeping systems. They provide security, and reliability and make it fast. How exactly do these features work and what do they provide to the blockchain, let’s explore in this section.
Decentralized Control
While traditional databases have centralized control, blockchain technology works on a distributed ledger. What this means is that when any data is appended into conventional systems, it goes into a central control and is managed by it. This increases the power and memory requirements of the central authority.
Blockchain on the other hand utilizes a distributed ledger. Here the network is divided into several nodes which are spatially distributed. Each node possesses power and memory capabilities. Any data in the blockchain passes through a chain of nodes and each node verifies it.
Security Issues
The data that is entered into a blockchain is immutable. This means that the data entered cannot be tampered with. Also, the data is encrypted. This makes it secure from attacks by hackers.
Traditional databases on the other hand store the data inside a central system and the data is also not fully encrypted. Moreover, as all the stored in a single place, it is more prone to threats such as data theft and hacking.
Difficult to Hack
As we have already discussed in previous sections in traditional databases, data is stored in a single place and thus it is easy for hackers to bring the whole network down just by hacking into the main central system.
Blockchain, on the other hand, is designed in a way that is extremely difficult, or we can say, nearly impossible to hack. For hacking a blockchain network, one needs to have access to more than half the nodes present in the network at a time. This makes blockchain networks less prone to digital threats.
Better Transparency
Blockchain networks are more transparent and accessible than traditional networks. Blockchain is transparent and everyone can get access to the data that is going through the supply chain.
Traditional networks do not possess this level of transparency and have only authorized access. Blockchains can be customized based on the needs.
Energy Management
All the features that blockchain has to offer provide some in-direct benefits too when compared with conventional systems. Features such as decentralization, and immutability help in energy management and conservation. In traditional systems, a huge amount of energy is invested in maintaining and running the central authority. In blockchain, this energy is distributed into several nodes and the total consumption is quite less when compared with the conventional ones.
Immutability provides integrity to the data and makes data stored in the database reusable. This conserves the energy required to update the database regularly.
Reliable Network
Blockchain technology has nodes distributed all across the network and in the case of failure of a single or more nodes, the network remains unaffected. This makes blockchain a highly reliable technology. It can be used in networks where failure of one or more nodes should keep the network running.
Blockchain’s unique features like decentralization, immutability, traceability & transparency can be used in various fields such as healthcare, real estate, finance management, and supply chain management. These will help to increase efficiency while reducing the cost and improving trust in these industries.
Conclusion
Blockchain has completely changed the way data is stored and used. The numerous features that blockchain provides make it a more effective way of storing data. In this article, by highlighting various features of blockchain we have tried to show how is blockchain different from traditional database model. Immutability, decentralization, transparency, and other features of the blockchain have demonstrated that it is better than the conventional methods used.
Blockchain also provides better security as it is difficult to hack and is also reliable. By understanding these differences, these can be utilized for application in various fields such as medicine, engineering, and finance. For reading more such interesting articles on blockchain and recent technologies, do visit our blog page.
