Logical Data Elements

Data resources must be organized and structured in some logical manner so that they can be accessed easily,
processed efficiently, retrieved quickly, and managed effectively.

Data may be logically organized into characters, fields, records, files, and databases, just as writing can be
organized into letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, and documents.

i) Character: The most basic logical data element is the character, which consists of a single alphabetic,
numeric, or other symbol. A character is the most basic element of data that can be observed and
manipulated.
ii) Field: The next higher level of data is the field, or data item. A field consists of a grouping of related
characters. A data field represents an attribute (a characteristic or quality) of some entity (object, person,
place, or event).
iii) Record: All of the fields used to describe the attributes of an entity are grouped to form a record. Thus, a
record represents a collection of attributes that describe a single instance of an entity.
iv) File: A group of related records is a data file.
v) Database: A database is an integrated collection of logically related data elements. A database consolidates
records previously stored in separate files into a common pool of data elements that provides data for many
applications. A database doesn’t need to look complex or technical to be a database; it just needs to provide
a logical organization method and easy access to the data stored in it. The data are stored in such a way to
ensure that there is easy access to it, it can be shared by its respective owners, and it can be protected from
unauthorized access or use.

Database Structures

The relationships among the many individual data elements stored in databases are based on one of several logical
data structures, or models.

i) Hierarchical Structure: A hierarchical database model is a data model in which the data are
organized into a tree-like structure. The data are stored as records which are connected to one another
through links. Relationships among the records are one-to-many.
ii) Network Structure: A network database model is a database model that allows multiple records to
be linked to the same owner file. It allows many-to-many relationships among records. The network
model can access a data element by following one of several paths because any data element or record
can be related to any number of other data elements.
iii) Relational Structure: A relational database (RDB) is a collective set of multiple data sets organized
by tables, records and columns. All data elements within the database are viewed as being stored in
the form of simple two-dimensional tables.
iv) Object-oriented Structure: An object database is a database management system in which
information is represented in the form of objects as used in object-oriented programming.
v) Multidimensional Structure: The multidimensional model is a variation of the relational model that
uses multidimensional structures to organize data and express the relationships between data.

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 Advantages & Disadvantages of Database Structures:

Model Advantages Disadvantages

i) The model allows easy addition and i) It requires data to be repetitively stored in
deletion of new information. many different entities.
ii) Data at the top of the Hierarchy is very ii) The database can be very slow when
Hierarchical fast to access searching for information on the lower entities.
Data iii) It was very easy to work with the model iii) Cannot easily handle ad hoc requests for
Structure because it worked well with linear type data information.
storage such as tapes iv) Great deal of redundancy.
iv) Routine types of transaction processing v) Requires knowledge of a programming
is fast and efficiently. language.
i) Simplicity: Similar to hierarchical data i) System complexity: Navigation the data in
model, network model is also simple and this model is complex.
easy to design. ii) Not a user friendly: Highly skill oriented
ii) Superior data access: The data access because use of pointers leads to complex
Network and flexibility is superior to that is found in structure, which makes mapping of related data
Structure the hierarchical data model. very difficult
iii) Database integrity: Network model iii) Cannot easily handle ad hoc requests for
enforces database integrity. information.
iv) Data independence: This model allows iv) Requires knowledge of a programming
sufficient data independence. language.
i) Simplicity: A relational data model is i) Hardware overheads: This model needs
simple than hierarchical and network model. more powerful computing hardware and data
ii) Structure independence: This model storage devices to perform RDBMS assigned
does not depend on the navigational data task.
Relational access system. ii) Processing of Large data: It cannot
Structure iii) Maintenance: Easier to maintain than process large amounts of business transactions
the hierarchical and network models. as quickly and efficiently as other structures.
iv) Easy for programmers to work with.
v) End users can use this model with litter
effort or training.

Database Development
The development of databases can be easily accomplished using microcomputer database management packages
for small end-user applications. However, the development of large corporate databases requires a top-down data
planning effort that may involve developing enterprise and entity relationship models, subject area databases, and
data models that reflect the logical data elements and relationships needed to support the operation and
management of the basic business processes of the organization.

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 Types of Database:
i) Operational Database: Operational databases store detailed data needed to support the business
processes and operations of a company. It stores data inside of an enterprise. They can contain things
like payroll records, customer information and employee data. They are critical to data warehousing
and business analytics operations.
ii) Distributed Database: A distributed database is a database that consists of two or more files located
in different sites either on the same network or on entirely different networks. Portions of the database
are stored in multiple physical locations and processing is distributed among multiple database nodes.
Advantages:
a. In a distributed database, data can be stored in different systems like personal computers, servers,
mainframes, etc.
b. If data is lost or damaged from one or several locations, it can be retrieved from other existing locations.
c. Large database may be distributed into smaller database.
d. Database can be accessed over different networks.
e. Data can be joined and updated from different tables which are located on different machines.
f. Even if a system fails the integrity of the distributed database is maintained.
g. A distributed database is secure.
Disadvantages:
a. Since the data is accessed from a remote system, performance is reduced.
b. Maintenance of data accuracy while changing in data from any location.
c. Extra computing power and bandwidth is required to access multiple databases in multiple locations.
d. Static SQL cannot be used.
e. Database optimization is difficult in a distributed database.
f. Different data formats are used in different systems.
g. Different DBMS products are used in different systems which increases in complexity of the system.
iii) External Database: Access to a wealth of information from external databases is available for a fee
from commercial online services and with or without charge from many sources on the World Wide
Web. Whenever a person uses a search engine like Google or Yahoo to look up something on the
Internet, s/he is using an external database.
iv) Hypermedia Database: A Web site stores hypertext and hypermedia documents in a hypermedia
database consisting of hyperlinked pages of multimedia such as text, graphic, photo, video, audio.

Data Warehouse
A data warehouse is a system stores data that have been extracted from the various operational, external, and
other databases of an organization. It is a central source of the data that have been cleaned, transformed, and
cataloged so that they can be used by managers and other business professionals for data mining, online analytical
processing, and other forms of business analysis, market research, and decision support. Unlike typical database,
data in a data warehouse is static.
Components of Complete Data Warehouse System
 The data from various operational and external databases
are captured, cleaned, and transformed into data that can
be better used for analysis.
 This acquisition process might include activities like
consolidating data from several sources, filtering out
unwanted data, correcting incorrect data, converting data
to new data elements, or aggregating data into new data
subsets.
 These data are then stored in the enterprise data
warehouse, from which they can be moved into data marts
or to an analytical data store that holds data in a more
useful form for certain types of analysis.
 Metadata are stored in a metadata repository and
cataloged by a metadata directory.
 Finally, a variety of analytical software tools can be
provided to query, report, mine, and analyze the data for
delivery via Internet and intranet, Web systems to
business end users.

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 Data Mining
In data mining, the data in a data warehouse are analyzed to reveal hidden patterns and trends in historical
business activity. Data mining can discover new correlations, patterns, and trends in vast amounts of business data
stored in data warehouses.

Purpose of Data Mining:

 To perform market-basket analysis to identify new product bundles.

 To find root causes of quality or manufacturing problems.
 To prevent customer attrition and acquire new customers.
 To cross-sell to existing customers
 To profile customers with more accuracy.

How data mining extracts business knowledge from a data warehouse

Problems of file Processing

i. Data Redundancy: It is possible that the same information may be duplicated in different files. This leads to
data redundancy results in memory wastage.
ii. Data Inconsistency: Because of data redundancy, it is possible that data may not be in consistent state.
iii. Difficulty in Accessing Data: Accessing data is not convenient and efficient in file processing system.
iv. Limited Data Sharing: Data are scattered in various files. Also different files may have different formats and
these files may be stored in different folders may be of different departments. So, due to this data isolation, it
is difficult to share data among different applications.
v. Integrity Problems: Data integrity means that the data contained in the database in both correct and
consistent. For this purpose the data stored in database must satisfy correct and constraints.
vi. Concurrent Access Anomalies: Multiple users are allowed to access data simultaneously. This is for the
sake of better performance and faster response.
vii. Security Problems: Database should be accessible to users in limited way. Each user should be allowed to
access data concerning his requirements only.
viii. Atomicity Problems: Any operation on database must be atomic. This means, it must happen in
it’s entirely or not at all.

Database Management Approach & System

Database Management Approach: The database management approach consolidates data records, formerly
held in separate files, into databases that can be accessed by many different application programs.

Database Management System: The database management system (DBMS) is the software that interacts with
end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and analyze data. It is the main software tool of the
database management approach. Ex: MySQL, Oracle 10g, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server, etc.

DBMS Components and Functions:

Components Functions
Database Definition Language and graphical tools to define entities, relationships, integrity constraints, and
authorization rights.
Nonprocedural Access Language and graphical tools to access data without complicated coding.
Application Graphical tools to develop menus, data entry forms, and reports.
Development
Procedural Language Language that combines nonprocedural access with full capabilities of a programming
Interface language.

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 Transaction Processing Control mechanisms to prevent interference from simultaneous users and recover lost
data after a failure.
Database Tuning Tools to monitor and improve database performance.

Functions of Database Management System:

i) Create new databases and database applications: Database development involves defining and organizing
the content, relationships, and structure of the data needed to build a database. Database application
development involves using a DBMS to develop prototypes of queries, forms, reports, and Web pages for a
proposed business application.
ii) Maintain the quality of the data in an organization’s databases: Database maintenance involves using
transaction processing systems and other tools to add, delete, update, and correct the data in a database.
iii) Use the databases of an organization to provide the information that it end users need: End users can use a
DBMS by asking for information from a database using a query feature or a report generator.

Features of DBMS:

i) Query Ability
ii) Backup and Replication
iii) Rule Enforcement
iv) Security
v) Computation
vi) Change and Access Logging
vii) Automated Optimization

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