Is PyTables a replacement for a relational database?
No, by no means. PyTables lacks many features that are standard in most relational databases. In particular, it does not have support for relationships (beyond the hierarchical one, of course) between datasets and it does not have transactional features. PyTables is more focused on speed and dealing with really large datasets, than implementing the above features. In that sense, PyTables can be best viewed as a teammate of a relational database.
