2008 Unidata NetCDF Workshop for Developers and Data Providers > Overview of netCDF
2.8 Alternatives to netCDF
What alternatives exist for storing, accessing, and sharing scientific data?
If you want to make scientific data accessible to
others in a form that's portable, self-describing,
supported by freely available software
libraries in multiple languages, and for which widely used
conventions are being maintained, netCDF may be a good choice.
Other alternatives that you might consider include
- Relational database management systems such as Oracle,
Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and MySQL are useful when the data
conform to the relational model, such as structured data that can be
organized in tables.
-
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are useful for storing and
manipulating spatial data, especially two-dimensional data that can
be associated with earth locations.
- HDF5 (Hierarchical Data Format 5) from The HDF Group
(a spin-off from the NCSA group
that developed HDF4 and HDF5) is oriented towards high performance
computing. It is somewhat more complex than netCDF, but also more
powerful.
- GRIB (GRIdded Binary) is a WMO standard format for 2D gridded information that is
especially good for compression and international exchange.
- XMDF
(eXtensible Model Data Format) is tailored for representing model data on
complex meshes and geometries, for example river cross-sections.
2008 Unidata NetCDF Workshop for Developers and Data Providers > Overview of netCDF
