What is a transactional database?

A transactional database is specifically designed to efficiently handle a high volume of transactions, making it particularly suited for environments like banking, where numerous simultaneous transactions occur, such as deposits, withdrawals, and transfers. These databases are optimized for speed and reliability, ensuring that transactions can be completed accurately and quickly, which is critical in financial settings.

This type of database employs features like ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties to ensure that all transactions are processed reliably and maintain data integrity, even in the event of system failures or errors. The emphasis on transaction throughput and data consistency is what distinctly characterizes transactional databases, differentiating them from other types of databases that may focus on different functionalities, such as unstructured data storage or archival purposes.