Data – raw facts or facts that’s not yet processed to show - Improved decision making - Well-managed data and

naged data and easy

meaning to an end user access lead to better-quality information, resulting in more
Information – processed raw data for showing end user. Consists informed decisions.
of transformed data and facilities decision making - Increased end-user productivity – easy access to data and
Database – a shared, integrated computer structure housing a analytical tools helps users make quick, informed decisions,
collection of: end-user-data – raw facts of interest to the end user driving success.
Metadata – data abt data, which the end-user data is integrated
Types of databases – DBMS can be used to build different types
and managed.
of databases. The number of users determines whether the
Roles and advantages of DBMS: a Data Base Management database is classified as single or multiuser:
System is software that manages database structure and - Single user database: supports only one user at a time, a
controls data access. The ff are some of the advntgs: personal finance app storing budget data for one user
- Improved data sharing: the DBMS acts as a middleman - Desktop database: single user database that runs on a
between user and database. enabling access to the data personal computer, Microsoft access database for tracking
stored in files only through the DBMS. personal book collections.
- Improved data security – DBMS provides framework for better - Multiuser database: supports multiple users at the same
enforcement of data privacy and security policies time, online banking system that allows multiple customers
- Better data integration - enables a unified view of operations, to access their accounts.
making it easier to understand how actions in one area impact - Workgroup database: supports a small number of users or
others within the company. specific department in an organization, a shared HR database
- Minimized data inconsistency - ensures uniform data across for the company’s HR
all locations, preventing errors from multiple versions of the - Enterprise database: used by the entire organization and
same information. supports many users across departments, the company’s
- Improved data access - allows quick responses to on-the- enterprise resource planning (ERP) storing data for finance,
spot queries, enabling efficient data retrieval and updates sales, and logistics.
through the DBMS. - Centralized database: supports data located at a single site,
university student record system stored on one central server
- Distributed database: supports data distributed across - Not enough time in the development schedule
different sites, a global e-commerce website storing data - Too many changes occurring throughout the dev cycle
across multiple data centres. - Assigned or performed by novices.
- Cloud database: database that’s created and maintained
The first step in constructing a physical database should be
using cloud services, like a company’s CRM system hosted on
transforming logical design using best practices:
AWS.
- Transform entities to tables
- General-purpose database: contains wide variety of data
- Attributes to columns
used in multiple disciplines, like Wiki’s database that stores
- Domains to data types and constraints
diverse topics and articles.
- Relationships to primary and foreign keys
- Discipline-specific database: contains data focused on
specific subject areas, a medical research database storing File system data processing issue - The file system improved data
patient and clinical trial data. management over manual methods and was useful for over two
- Operational database: primarily supports a company’s day- decades, but its limitations eventually became clear.
to-day operations, a retail store’s inventory and sales Critiquing the file system highlights its shortcomings, helping to
tracking. understand modern databases and avoid repeating the same
- Analytical database: primarily stores historical data and issues in database environments.
business metrics used for tactical or strategic decision File system issues, whether from Data Processing specialists or
making, a business intelligence system analysing sales spreadsheets, limit the accuracy and type of information that can
trends over time. be generated. Here are some of them
- Lengthy development times: Simple data retrieval requires
Importance of database design – a database that meets all user
extensive programming. Older file systems needed
requirements must design its structure carefully. It is a crucial
programmers to specify both what to do and how to do it.
aspect of working with databases. Most of the time database
Modern databases use easier, nonprocedural methods.
design doesn’t get the attention it deserves; this can occur
- Slow query responses - Writing programs is necessary for
because of:
even basic reports.
- Insufficiency of specifications and/or poor logical data
modelling.
- Complex system administration - More files mean increased Poor data security – having multiple copies increases the
difficulty in managing systems. chances to be susceptible to unauthorized access
- Limited security & data sharing - File systems lack efficient Data inconsistency – exists when different and conflicting
sharing and security, creating risks when users are versions for the same data appear in different places.
geographically dispersed. Data-entry errors – likely to occur when complex entries are made
- Difficult modifications - Changing file structures require in several different files or recur frequently in one or more files
extensive programming. Data integrity problems - Errors like entering a fake employee in
records can lead to misinformation and operational issues.
schema refers to the structure or organization of a database,
including how data is stored, organized, and related to each Data anomalies:
other. - Inconsistent changes have been made to a database
Structural Dependence means that if the schema (table - Develops when not all required changes in the redundant data
structures, fields, or relationships) changes, programs accessing are made successfully
the data must also be updated.
Data models – the first step in designing a database, it is the
Structural Independence means schema changes do not
process of creating a specific data model for a determined
require changes in how data is accessed, making the system
problem domain.
more flexible.
A data model is a simple representation, usually graphical, of
Data dependence – is a condition which data representation and more complex real-word data structures. A model is an
manipulation are dependent on the physical data storage abstraction of a more complex real-world object or event.
characteristics
Importance of Database models: they can facilitate interaction
Data independence – data access is unaffected by changes in the
among the designer, app programmer, and end user. a good
physical data storage characteristics.
model can foster improved understanding of the organization.
Data redundancy – exist when the same data is stored
unnecessarily at different places. Its importance cannot be overstated, data constitutes the most
basic information used by a system. Apps are created to manage
Uncontrolled data redundancy sets stage for the ff.
data and help transform data into info, but data is viewed in
different ways by people.
Data model basic building blocks: o Subschema – defines the portion of the database by
Entity – a person, place, thing, or event about which data will be the app that produce desired info from the data in the
collected and stored database
Attribute – characteristic of an entity o Data Manipulation Language (DML) – defines the
Relationship – describes an association among entities environment which data can be managed
- One to one (1:1) o Data Definition Language (DDL) – allows the database
- One to many (1:M) admin to define the schema components
- Many to Many (M:M) - Relational model: introduced in the 70’s by Edgar Frank Codd
of IBM, represented a breakthrough for both users and
Evolution of data models: The need for better data management
designers. The foundation of mathematical concept is known
has led to models that address past shortcomings and evolving
as relation
needs. These models define database concepts, functions,
- Entity Relationship Model: introduced in ’76 by Peter Chen, is
structures, and implementation technologies.
a graphical representation of entities and their relationships
- Hierarchical model: developed in the 60’s, it manages large
in a databases structure that quickly became popular,
amounts of data for complex manufacturing projects. Its
because it complemented the relational model concepts. The
basic logical structure is represented by an upside-down tree.
relational data model and ERM are combined to provide
Contains levels, or segments, the equivalent of a file system’s
foundation for tightly structured database design.
record type
- Object-Oriented Model: in OODM, both data and its
- Network model: created to represent complex data
relationships are contained in a single structure known as an
relationships more effectively than the hierarchical model, to
object. The OODM is the basis for the Object-Oriented
improve database performance, and impose a database
Database Management System (OODBMS). OODM is said to
standard. Generally used today, the standard database
be a semantic, OODM doesn’t just store data; it provides
concepts that emerged with the network model are still used
context and meaning to it.
by modern data models:
- OODM is based on the following:
o Schema – the conceptual organization of the entire
o a simplified representation of a real-world thing
database viewed by the database admin
o characteristics that describe an object
 o a group of similar objects sharing the same attributes ▪ Variety – data being collected comes in multiple
and behaviours data formats
o classes are arranged like a tree, where each class has o NoSQL: a large-scale distributed database system that
one parent stores structured and unstructured data in efficient
o objects can take on attributes from parent classes ways. Searchin on amazon or searching direction in
o visual tools (UML Diagrams) used to represent Object- Google maps are examples. General characteristics of
Oriented models NoSQL database are:
- Extensible Markup Language (XML) – a metalanguage used to ▪ Not based on the relational model and SQL
represent and manipulate data elements, unlike other ▪ Support distributed database architectures: a big
markup languages, XML permits manipulation of a advantage, using a distributed database node
document’s data elements. ▪ Provide scalability, high availability, and fault
Emerging Data Models tolerance: NoSQL provides high scalability,
o Big Data: refers to a movement to find new and better availability, and fault tolerance, designed to
ways to manage large amounts of web and sensor- support web operations such as the ability to add
generated data and derive business insight form it, capacity in the form of nodes to the distributed
while providing high performance and scalability at a database when demand is high, and do it
reasonable cost. First used in a computing framework transparently and without downtime
by John Mashley, Silicon Graphics scientist in the 90’s. ▪ Support very large amounts of sparse data: No
Douglas Laney, data analyst from Gartner group who NoSQL supports very large amounts of sparse
first described the basic characteristic of Big Data data, suited for sparse data, for cases which the
databases: number of attributes is very large, but the number
▪ Volume – the amounts of data being stored of actual data instances is low.
▪ Velocity – the speed which data grows and the ▪ Geared toward performance rather than
need to process this data quickly to generate info transaction consistency: automatically makes
and insight copies of data elements at multiple nodes to
ensure high availability and fault tolerance.
Degrees of Data Abstraction: in the 70’s ANSI (American National
Standards Institute) /SPARC (Standards Planning and
Requirements Committee) developed a 3-level data abstraction
framework:
- External model: the end user’s view of the data environment,
refers to people who use apps to manipulate the data and
generate info. ER diagrams are used to represent external
views. A specific representation is known as external schema
- Conceptual Model: represents a global view of the entire
database by the entire organization, also known as
conceptual schema, it is the basis for identification and high-
level description of the main data object.
- Internal model: representation of the database as seen by the
DBMS, requires the designer to match the conceptual
model’s characteristics and constraints to those of the
selected implementation model. Internal schema depicts a
specific representation of an internal model, using the
database constructs supported by the chosen database.
- Physical model: operates at the lowest level of abstraction,
describing the way data is saved on storage media such as
magnetic, solid state, or optical media. It requires the
definition of both physical storage devices and the (physical)
access methods required to reach the data, making both
software and hardware dependent.