nocodb/packages/noco-docs/docs/150.engineering/010.architecture.md

---
title: "Architecture overview"
description: "Simple overview of NocoDB architecture"
tags: ['Engineering']
hide_table_of_contents: true
---

By default, if `NC_DB` is not specified, then SQLite will be used to store your metadata. We suggest users to separate the metadata and user data in different databases.
  
![image](/img/architecture.png)


| Project Type | Metadata stored in | Data stored in |
|---------|-----------|--------|
| Create new project | NC_DB | NC_DB |
| Create new project with External Database | NC_DB | External Database |
| Create new project from Excel | NC_DB | NC_DB |
docs: engineering section, fix broken links Signed-off-by: Raju Udava <86527202+dstala@users.noreply.github.com> 11 months ago			`---`
docs: title case correction Signed-off-by: Raju Udava <86527202+dstala@users.noreply.github.com> 11 months ago			`title: "Architecture overview"`
docs: engineering section, fix broken links Signed-off-by: Raju Udava <86527202+dstala@users.noreply.github.com> 11 months ago			`description: "Simple overview of NocoDB architecture"`
docs: fix tags for automation, accounts, engineering Signed-off-by: Raju Udava <86527202+dstala@users.noreply.github.com> 11 months ago			`tags: ['Engineering']`
docs: engineering section, fix broken links Signed-off-by: Raju Udava <86527202+dstala@users.noreply.github.com> 11 months ago			`hide_table_of_contents: true`
			`---`

			By default, if `NC_DB` is not specified, then SQLite will be used to store your metadata. We suggest users to separate the metadata and user data in different databases.

			`![image](/img/architecture.png)`


			`\| Project Type \| Metadata stored in \| Data stored in \|`
			`\|---------\|-----------\|--------\|`
			`\| Create new project \| NC_DB \| NC_DB \|`
			`\| Create new project with External Database \| NC_DB \| External Database \|`
			`\| Create new project from Excel \| NC_DB \| NC_DB \|`