JultikaUniversity of Oulu repository

Databases have existed since 1960s. Relational databases came out in 1970s and they have been the most popular database technology ever since. However, non-relational databases came out in 2000s and have gathered popularity since then. This thesis studied different open-source database management systems including relational and non-relational systems. Prompt looks into data analytics and distributed databases were also taken. The main purpose of this study was to design, implement and evaluate a new database for the needs of a software testing team. In order to do that it was needed to find out a database management system that met the requirements best given by the case company. It was also needed to find out which database design principles and techniques should be followed to achieve a well-performing and easily maintainable database. After studying different database management system, MySQL was chosen for the database management system and a new database was designed, implemented and evaluated. It turned out that MySQL is still a relevant and successful database management system to meet the needs of a modern software testing team when optimization techniques such as indexing and normalization are applied. In the future it would be beneficial to study how a non-relational database management system could be combined with a relational database management system to meet the needs of different software testing teams.