A
Report on
Case Study on Neo4j Database
Prepared for
Advanced Database Management Systems
SIES GRADUATE SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY NERUL,
NAVI MUMBAI 400706
ACADEMIC YEAR 2025 – 2026
A
Case Study on Neo4j Database
Prepared for
Advanced Database Management Systems
Submitted by
AJAY MUDLIYAR 123A1073
Under the guidance of
Ms. Amita Suke
SIES GRADUATE SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY
NERUL, NAVI MUMBAI 400706
ACADEMIC YEAR
2025 – 2026
SIES Graduate School of Technology
Computer Engineering
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the case study entitled “Neo4j Database: A Study on Graph Databases” is a
bonafide work of the following student, submitted as a part of term work during Advanced
Database Management Systems in SEM V of Engineering in Computer Engineering.
AJAY MUDLIYAR 123A1073
Ms. Amita Suke Dr. Aparna Bannore
Subject In Charge HOD
1. Introduction
In the modern era of big data, many applications need to store and analyze
complex relationships between data items. Traditional relational databases often
fail to efficiently represent and query such connected data. To overcome this
limitation, graph databases were developed.
Neo4j is one of the most popular and powerful graph database management
systems used worldwide. It represents data in the form of nodes (entities) and
relationships (connections between entities). Neo4j uses the property graph
model, where each node and relationship can have properties (key-value pairs) that
store additional information.
Unlike SQL databases, Neo4j uses a graph query language called Cypher, which
makes it easy to express complex queries about relationships between data.
[Link] of Neo4j
Neo4j’s architecture is designed for high performance and scalability when
working with connected data. It consists of the following main components:
• Nodes: Represent entities such as people, products, or places.
• Relationships: Represent the connections between nodes (e.g.,
“FRIEND_OF”, “PURCHASED”, “LIKES”).
• Properties: Store information about nodes or relationships (like name, age,
date, etc.).
• Labels: Used to group nodes into categories, such as Person, Product, or
City.
• Cypher Query Engine: Processes Cypher queries efficiently.
• Storage Engine: Manages physical storage of graph data on disk.
Neo4j’s graph model allows for direct navigation between related nodes without
using costly joins, which makes it very fast for relationship-based queries.
[Link] of Neo4j
Neo4j stores and manages data as graphs. When a Cypher query is executed, Neo4j
directly traverses the relationships between nodes, retrieving related information
quickly.
Example Cypher query:
MATCH (a:Person)-[:FRIEND_OF]->(b:Person)
WHERE [Link] = "Ajay"
RETURN [Link];
This query returns all friends of “Ajay.”
Such queries that would require complex joins in SQL can be done in a few lines
using Cypher in Neo4j.
4. Real-World Case Study Example
One of the best real-world applications of Neo4j is in fraud detection by financial
institutions.
In banking systems, fraudsters often create fake accounts or perform transactions
through a network of people and accounts. Detecting such hidden connections
using traditional databases is very difficult and time-consuming.
Using Neo4j, all transactions, accounts, and users can be modeled as nodes and
relationships. By traversing the graph, Neo4j can instantly find suspicious patterns
or unusual transaction paths, helping banks to detect fraud in real-time.
Other real-world applications include:
• Social Networks: To find mutual friends and recommendations (like
Facebook and LinkedIn).
• Recommendation Systems: Suggesting movies, books, or products (like
Netflix and Amazon).
• Network and IT Management: Tracking complex network dependencies
and failures.
5. Advantages of Neo4j
• Efficient for relationship-based queries
• Uses the intuitive Cypher query language
• High performance in traversing large graphs
• Scalable and flexible schema
• Ideal for connected data such as social networks, fraud detection, and
knowledge graphs
6. Conclusion
Neo4j has transformed the way data relationships are stored and analyzed. Its
graph-based model provides an intuitive and powerful approach for understanding
connections between data elements. Compared to traditional relational databases,
Neo4j offers greater flexibility, speed, and efficiency when working with complex
and connected datasets.
With its growing popularity in industries like finance, e-commerce, and social
media, Neo4j has become one of the most important tools for modern data-driven
applications.
[Link] (Example)
1. Neo4j Official Documentation: [Link]
2. Robinson, I., Webber, J., & Eifrem, E. (2015). Graph Databases: New Opportunities for
Connected Data. O’Reilly Media.
3. Neo4j Tutorial: [Link]
4. Angles, R., & Gutierrez, C. (2008). Survey of Graph Database Models. ACM Computing
Surveys, 40(1), 1–39.
5. Neo4j Blog – Case Studies: [Link]
