An Analysis Of Database Ranges, Design Approaches, And Technologies

Database

Structure

Contribution towards past, current and future database developments

Flat file

 It stores data in plain text file. Every line of text file stores a single record, where a field is separated by the delimiters like commas or tabs

This file system was used by original Macintosh computer known as MFS or Macintosh File System creatively. It got replaced by more efficient HFS or Hierarchical File System, by directory structure (Yusof and Man 2018).

Hierarchical

 It was the earliest model looking more like upside down tree. Files get related in parent-child manner, where parents were able to connect with more than a child (Jastrow and Preuss 2015). However, every child has been associated with a single parent

 They were popular in early database designs during the age of mainframe computers. Some Microsoft and IBM models are still in existence.

Network

 It is seen as a tree-like structure designed in an upside-down manner. Here all member information is branched connected to owners at the bottom of the tree (Deniša and Ude 2015).

 Previously it was hard to maintain and implement, though being much flexible. Programmers still need to understand the data structure for future to make this more efficient (Politis et al. 2016).

Relational database model

 Every relation is depicted as a table here. Here, columns are attributes belonging to entity modeled by the table (Batory and Azanza 2017). 

 It provided databases supplying simple method to look at data. Its straightforward techniques like ER modelling are expected to represent a world-view to create a relational database.

Top-down design

This approach begins, with a big scenario. This gets broken down into smaller segments. The top-down approach starts with the big picture. It breaks down from there into smaller segments.

Bottom-up design

 A bottom-up approach is piecing together of various systems rising more complicated system. In this way, it makes original systems and sub-systems of emerging system. It is opposite to top-down one (Gatterbauer and Suciu 2017). Here goals for a product are outlines. Assembly of a product is done according to system-by-system basis.

ERD modeling

 They help in clarifying information models for the relational databases. It helps business users to understand structures of databases at high-level devoid of any details. It must be assured that every entity appear once in every diagram (Visual-paradigm.com, 2018).

Proper nomenclature of attributes, relationships and entities of the diagram must be done. Every relationships taking place between entities must be examined closely. It must be determined are they necessary and whether any relationship is missing. Redundant relationships and must be eliminated. The relationship must not be connected to each other. Further, colors can be used to highlight parts of their diagram.

DFD modeling

 It maps out flow of information for any system or process. Defined symbols are used here like arrows, circles, rectangles, a short text tables showing input, output, storage points routing between every destination (Zhang et al. 2017).

It must be kept in mind that a vital aspect of DFD and primary benefits in requirement process is that there has been no explicit notation of sequence of processing in that notation.

DFD recognizes the ongoing and what has been passed in and out for every activity. However, it never specifies order in which things have been happening.

Stating in other words, one can recognize the activities taking place at a specific level of abstraction (Kimball et al. 2015). However, some other techniques are needed to show the time ordering of those activities. Moreover, some types of sequence are implied through those naming activities. Though any combination of those activities are somewhere between the beginning and ending points at a specific point of time.

Normalization

 Here data attributes under data models are organized to raise cohesion of various entity types.  

Database technologies

 Use

 Benefits

 Limitations

 Data warehousing

 This system is used to report and do data analysis

 They are centralized data storage systems allowing business to integrate data from various applications and sources to a single location (Kacprzyk,  Zadro?ny and De Tré 2015). It supplies environment designed for analytics report, decision support and data mining

 There are no automated methods to get reports, and no dashboards are available. Here every statement are based on excels and spreadsheets silo and then skew information. Further, there is no ability to perform quick analysis or any “what if” modeling

Data mining

  It is utilized to find patterns for discovering relationships and patterns in data for helping to make better decisions in business.

 It is helpful for marketing organizations to create models by historical data for forecasting who have been reacting to new marketing campaigns (Raza, Talib and Amin 2014). Examples of this include an online marketing campaign, direct mailing and so on

 Data is gathered by data mining expected for ethical purposes to be misused. Various unethical people could exploit the information or business might get advantages of different vulnerable ones or discriminate against a team of individuals.

 Web-enabled database applications

 This application supplies interactive access toward various business data. It has been including placing orders, making queries, updating and tracking records through internet and browser.

 An advantage of online database software has been that it has been able to save business their costs (Jukic, Vrbsky and Nestorov 2016).

 One of the notable disadvantages is internet reliance. As Internet turns down or happen anywhere where it is not connected, one cannot access the Web app (Livingston and Umamakeswari 2015)

Digital libraries

Over Internet, use of digital library is done by broadband connection. This includes cable modem or DSL (Andrews 2017).

Various Dial up connections are used for accessing plain-text documents and documents that contain images. However, fore complex files and animated video contents, downstream speed of minimum 100 Kbps makes user experience less tedious and much more informative (Dl.sciencesocieties.org, 2018). In this way digital libraries are used to update internet-based libraries regularly.

 Benefits of digital libraries indicate easy and fast access to books, archives, and images of different kinds that are currently identified by various commercial interests and numerous public bodies alike

 Unfortunately, digital libraries of their collections have brought their challenges and problems in sectors like copyright, interoperability between software and systems and interface design (Taheri et al. 2015). Then there is equity of access, digital preservation, and copyright and user authentication for access to different collections.