What is an Embedded Database?

The world of technology is characterized by acronyms and of terms of art, sometimes confusingly so. The term "embedded" has long been used for software that is burned into programmable hardware, as with the processing logic for a microwave oven or the smarts in a cellular phone. In the database world, however, "embedded" has a different sense: It refers to a database engine that is packaged with (or even in) an application.  The prime advantage of embedded database systems lies in their availability and ease of administration. Since the data is kept in ordinary files in the user's space, there is no need to obtain special permissions to connect to the database process or to obtain a database account. Furthermore, since embedded databases require nothing more than a normal library, they can be useful in constrained environments (think shared web hosting), where no "proper" database is available. They can even be linked to an application and shipped with it.

This is in contrast to more conventional database management systems such as MSSQL, PostgreSQL or MySQL, which run as a separate process, and to which the application connects using some form of Inter Process Communication such as TCP/IP sockets.

Relational database that falls into this category:

• SQLite
• IBM Cloudscape in Embedded environment
• VistaDB with 500KB embedded footprint
• Borland InterBase 6.0

Updated On: 15.02.13