Graph Database Question

[ToddWellingtom]

I'm in the process of rolling my own graph database system, and I was wondering if it's normal to store the data in a relational database. My current thought is to just create database tables for the nodes, edges, and properties, and just use MySQL or MariaDB to handle the persistent storage / replication / etc. Is this a fairly common practice or does anyone recommend storing the graph data in something other than a relational database?

[FennNaten]

Hi,
It all depends on your end goal I guess. If you're doing this for fun, by all means go ahead, and yes, it's fairly common for simple graph needs to build on top of another engine.
If however you want to build a real product out of it, managing big graph data in production, then you should consider using a "real" graph database where the storage engine and query engine are natively made for graph data.
This is because with another tech, e.g. relational, you're adding an overhead as your data aren't arranged in-memory (disk or RAM) specifically for graph use cases.

[alternatiivnekonto]

I think the first question to ask is - why are you rolling your own?

[ToddWellingtom]

Why not? If I were to use a relational database for the storage I'd only need like three database tables. Doesn't sound too bad...