The first four chapters go through the fundamental ideas that apply to all data systems, whether running on a single machine or distributed across a cluster of machines:

前四章介绍了适用于所有数据系统的基本思想，无论是在单台计算机上运行还是分布在一组计算机上。

1. Chapter 1 introduces the terminology and approach that we’re going to use throughout this book. It examines what we actually mean by words like reliability , scalability , and maintainability , and how we can try to achieve these goals.

   第1章介绍了我们在本书中将要使用的术语和方法。它探讨了我们实际上是什么意思，如可靠性、可扩展性和可维护性等词，以及我们如何努力实现这些目标。

2. Chapter 2 compares several different data models and query languages—the most visible distinguishing factor between databases from a developer’s point of view. We will see how different models are appropriate to different situations.

   第二章比较了几种不同的数据模型和查询语言——这是从开发人员的角度来看，数据库之间最显著的区别因素。我们将看到不同的模型适用于不同的情况。

3. Chapter 3 turns to the internals of storage engines and looks at how databases lay out data on disk. Different storage engines are optimized for different workloads, and choosing the right one can have a huge effect on performance.

   第3章介绍了存储引擎的内部机制，并探讨了数据库在磁盘上如何布置数据。不同的存储引擎针对不同的工作负载进行了优化，选择正确的引擎可以对性能产生巨大影响。

4. Chapter 4 compares various formats for data encoding (serialization) and especially examines how they fare in an environment where application requirements change and schemas need to adapt over time.

   第4章比较了不同的数据编码格式(序列化)，特别是在应用需求变化和模式需要随时间调整的环境中它们的表现。

Later, Part II will turn to the particular issues of distributed data systems.

接下来，第二部分将转向分布式数据系统的特定问题。