# ClickHouse® as a columnar database

ClickHouse® is a columnar database that handles data with specific benefits.

## Fast data reading

Compared to traditional row-oriented solutions, columnar database
management systems store data tables by columns to provide better
performance and efficiency in certain applications. As a truly columnar
database, ClickHouse® also stores the values of the same column
physically next to each other. This further increases the speed of
retrieving the values of a column. However, it also makes it slower to
retrieve complete rows, as the values of a single row are stored across
different physical locations.

## Enhanced query performance

Storing the data of each column independently minimizes disk access and
improves query performance by reading only the data columns that are
relevant to a specific query.

## Data compression and queries aggregation

This storage approach also provides better options for data compression,
for example, by the ability to better utilize similarities between
adjacent data. Columnar databases are also better at aggregating queries
involving large data sets.

## Massive and complex read operations

Columnar databases such as ClickHouse are therefore best suited for
analytical applications that require big data processing or data
warehousing, as these usually involve fewer write operations but more -
or more complex - read operations that focus on subsets of the stored
data. However, applications where queries mainly affect entire rows in
the data tables are less efficient in columnar databases.