[[HierarchicalDataFormat]], [[WikiPedia:HDF5]]

Why HDF5?
 * Designed to efficiently manage very large datasets.
 * Lets you organize datasets hierarchically.
 * Very flexible and well tested in scientific environments.
 * Good maintenance and improvement rate.
 * Technical excellence (R&D 100 Award).
 * It's Open Source software

Python method
 * [[h5py]]: an attempt to map the HDF5 feature set to NumPy as closely as possible. In addition, it also provides access to nearly all of the HDF5 C API.
 * PyTables: an additional abstraction layer on top of HDF5 and NumPy
 * [[http://pypi.python.org/pypi/hdf5-django/0.1.1|hdf5-django 0.1.1]]