What does it mean that Azure Cosmos DB is multi-model?

Question

Looking at the new Azure cosmos database, I\'m a bit confused about the multi-model nature of it. Specifically, does it mean:

a) That the same underlying database/store

Answer 1

If you are interested in the implementation details of CosmosDB, you can read this whitepaper from a long time ago (assuming that the implementation hasn't changed). http://www.vldb.org/pvldb/vol8/p1668-shukla.pdf

TLDR:

• At the bottom, CosmosDB stores data in ARS and exposes them in JSON format.
• The database engine index ALL fields in ALL documents by default, therefore enabling very flexible query.
• The database engine executes an intermediate language similar to JavaScript, bridging the low-level storage and APIs that database exposes.
• Because of that bridging, more database APIs can be added to support different querying mechanism (e.g. SQL, document, columnar).