Vector Database Selection

1. The Question Behind the Question

"Which vector database should we use" is usually asked too early. The prior question is whether you need a separate one at all.

That is not a position taken for effect. It follows from what a vector index actually is: an index type, not a category of system. Nearest-neighbor search over embeddings is a capability that several kinds of database now have, in the same way that full-text search is a capability rather than a product category.

So the decision has the shape of every other build-or-buy and add-a-component decision in this course.

Adding