Clarifying the role of HBase Versions

[Ryan J. McDonough]

I'm trying to get some clarity on the role of versions in HBase. Our  
table design is such that a an object can have multiple property  
values for a given property name. For example, we could have an  
nickname property that a given person is known by. In the current set  
up, if a person has 3 nicknames, only the last one gets stored. We  
have considered using the column versions as an added data dimension,  
but that just doesn't feel quite right. Given that columns have a  
limit (granted that it's quite large) as to how many versions it can  
store, it's still a limit none the less.

From what I gather from reading the BigTable doc, is that version  
could be considered a form of optimistic locking so that concurrent  
writes don't conflict. Is that understanding correct? If not, is using  
versions as an added data dimension a good idea?

Ryan-