CHAPTER 7

Chapter 7 - Storing Organizational Information - Database

RELATIONAL DATABASE FUNDAMENTALS

-  Information is everywhere in an organization

-  Information is stored in databases

ü Database – maintains information about various types of objects (inventory), events (transactions), people (employees), and places (warehouses)

-  Database models include;

ü Hierarchical database model – information is organized into a tree-like structure (using parent/child relationships) in such a way that it cannot have too many relationships.

 

ü Network database model – a flexible way of representing objects and their relationships

 

ü Relational database model – stores information in the form of logically related two-dimensional tables

 

ENTITIES AND ATTRIBUTES

-    Entity – a person, place, thing, transaction, or event about which information is stored

ü  The rows in each table contains the entities

-    Attributes (fields, columns) – characteristics or properties of an entity class

ü   The columns in each table contain the attributes

KEYS AND RELATIONSHIPS

-   Primary keys and foreign keys identity the various entity classes (tables) in the database

ü  Primary key – a fields (or group of fields) that uniquely identities a given entity in a table

ü  Foreign key – a primary key of one table that appears an attribute in another table and acts to                            provide a logical relationships among the two tables

 

RELATIONAL DATABASE ADVANTAGES

-    Database advantages from a business perspective include;

ü   Increased flexibility

ü   Increased scalability and performance

ü   Reduced information redundancy

ü   Increased information integrity (quality)

ü   Increased information security

INCREASED FLEXIBILITY

-     A well-designed database should; 

ü   Handle changes quickly and easily

ü   Provide users with different views

ü   Have only one physical views²    Physical view – deals with the physical storage of information on a storage device

ü   Have multiple logical views²    Logical view – focuses on how users logically access information

INCREASED SCALABILITY AND PERFORMANCE

-      A database must scale to meet increased demand, while maintaining acceptable performance levels

ü    Scalability – refers to how well a system can adapt to increased demands

ü    Performance – measures how quickly a system performs a certain process or transaction

REDUCED INFORMATION REDUNDANCY

-      Databases reduce information redundancy

ü     Redundancy – the duplication of information or storing the same information in multiple places

-     Inconsistency is one of the primary problems with redundant information

INCREASED INFORMATION SECURITY

-      Information is an organization asset and must be protected

-      Databases offer several security features including;

ü    Password – provides authentication of the user

ü    Access level – determines who has access to the different types of information

ü    Access control – determines types of user access, such as read-only access

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

-     Database management systems (DBMS) – software through which users and application programs interact with a database

 

DATA-DRIVEN WEB SITES

-       Data-driven Web sites – an interactive Web site kept constantly updated and relevant to the needs of its   customers through the use of database

 

DATA-DRIVEN WEB SITE BUSINESS ADVANTAGES

•          Development
•          Content Management
•          Future Expandability
•          Minimizing Human Error
•          Cutting Production and Update Costs
•          More Efficient
•          Improved Stability

DATA-DRIVEN BUSINESS INTELLIGENT

-         BI in a data-driven Web site

 

INTEGRATING INFORMATION AMONG MULTIPLE DATABASES

-      Integration – allows separate systems to communicate directly with each other

ü   Forward integration – takes information entered into a given system and sends it
 automatically to all downstream systems and processes

 

ü   Backward integration – takes information entered into a given system and sends it
 automatically to all upstream systems and processes

 

 -          Building a central repository specifically for integrated information