Database benchmarking is crucial in determining the optimal database solution for users and vendors by separating science from marketing. It involves standardized tests that provide insights into a database's performance under different conditions, helping users choose between products and vendors to position their product in the market. Benchmarks must be transparent, cover realistic use cases, and be reproducible by third parties. They should test for CRUD operations and consider factors such as expected user numbers, transaction volumes, and response time requirements. Database benchmarking tools include YCSB, LoadRunner, sysbench, NoSQLBench, TPC, BenchmarkSQL, and ANN Benchmark.