1) NoSQL databases were developed to address the problems of scaling relational databases to handle big data workloads.
2) HBase is an open-source, distributed, versioned, non-relational database modeled after Google's BigTable.
3) Popular NoSQL databases like MongoDB, Cassandra, HBase, and Oracle NoSQL are compared based on their programming language, licensing, supported query languages, architecture, and suitability for different use cases.