Chapter 5 Database Systems, Data Centers, and Business

Intelligence

• Database:

– Organized collection of data

• Database management system (DBMS):

– Group of programs that manipulate the database

– Provide an interface between the database and its users and other application programs

• Database administrator (DBA):

– Skilled IS professional who directs all activities related to an organization’s database

Data Management

• Without data and the ability to process it:

– An organization could not successfully complete most business activities

• Data consists of raw facts

• To transform data into useful information: – It must first be organized in a meaningful

way

The Hierarchy of Data

• Bit (a binary digit): – Circuit that is either on or off

• Byte: – Typically made up of eight bits

• Character: – Basic building block of information

• Field: – Name, number, or combination of characters that describes an aspect of a business

object or activity

• Record: – Collection of related data fields

• File: – Collection of related records

• Database: – Collection of integrated and related files

• Hierarchy of data: – Bits, characters, fields, records, files, and databases

Data Entities, Attributes, and Keys

• Entity: – A person, place, or thing for which data is collected, stored, and maintained

• Attribute: – Characteristic of an entity

• Data item: – Specific value of an attribute

• Key: – Field or set of fields in a record that is used to identify the record

• Primary key: – Field or set of fields that uniquely identifies the record

The Database Approach

• The database approach:

– Traditional approach to data management:

• Each distinct operational system used data files dedicated to that system

– Database approach to data management:

• Pool of related data is shared by multiple application program

• When building a database, an organization must consider:

– Content: What data should be collected and at what cost?

– Access: What data should be provided to which users and when?

– Logical structure: How should data be arranged so that it makes sense to a given user?

– Physical organization: Where should data be physically located?

Data Modeling

• Data model: – Diagram of data entities and their relationships

• Enterprise data modeling: – Starts by investigating the general data and information needs
of the organization at the strategic level

• Entity-relationship (ER) diagrams: – Data models that use basic graphical symbols to
show the organization of and relationships between data

The Relational Database Model

• Relational model:

– Describes data using a standard tabular format

– Each row of a table represents a data entity (record)

– Columns of the table represent attributes (fields)

– The domain is the range of allowable values for data attributes

• Manipulating data:

– Selecting: • Eliminates rows according to certain criteria

– Projecting: • Eliminates columns in a table

– Joining: • Combines two or more tables

– Linking: • Manipulating two or more tables that share at least one common data
attribute

• Data cleanup

– Process of looking for and fixing inconsistencies to ensure that data is accurate and
complete

– Database normalization is often used to clean up problems with data

Overview of Database Types

• Flat file

– Simple database program whose records have no relationship to one another

• Single user

–Only one person can use the database at a time

– Examples: Access, FileMaker Pro, and InfoPath

• Multiple users

– Allow dozens or hundreds of people to access the same database system at the same time

– Examples: Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, and IBM

Providing a User View

• Schema:

– Used to describe the entire database

–Can be part of the database or a separate schema file

• DBMS: – Can reference a schema to find where to access the requested data in relation to
another piece of data

Creating and Modifying the Database

• Data definition language (DDL):

– Collection of instructions and commands used to define and describe data and
relationships in a specific database

– Allows database’s creator to describe data and relationships that are to be contained in
the schema

• Data dictionary: – Detailed description of all the data used in the database

Manipulating Data and Generating Reports

• Query by Example (QBE) is a visual approach to developing database queries or requests

• Data manipulation language (DML): – Commands that manipulate the data in a database

• Structured query language (SQL): – Adopted by the American National Standards

Institute (ANSI) as the standard query language for relational databases
• Once a database has been set up and loaded with data, it can produce reports, documents, and
other outputs

Database Administration

• DBA: – Works with users to decide the content of the database

– Works with programmers as they build applications to ensure that their programs
comply with database management system standards and conventions

• Data administrator: – Responsible for defining and implementing consistent principles

for a variety of data issues

Popular Database Management Systems

• Popular DBMSs for end users:

– Microsoft’s Access and FileMaker Pro

– Number of open source DBMS including PostgreSQL, MySQL, and CouchDB

• Database as a Service (DaaS):

– Emerging database system

– Database administration is provided by the service provider

– The database is stored on a service provider’s servers and accessed by the client over a
network

Database Virtualization

• Uses virtual servers and operating systems to allow two or more database systems, including
servers and DBMSs to act like a single, unified database system

• Allows more efficient use of computing resources, reduce costs, and provide better access to
critical information

Using Databases with Other Software

• DBMSs can act as front-end or back-end applications:

– Front-end applications interact directly with people

 – Back-end applications interact with other programs or applications

Database Applications

• Today’s database applications manipulate the content of a database to produce useful

information

• Common manipulations: – Searching, filtering, synthesizing, and assimilating data

contained in a database using a number of database applications

Big Data Applications

• Deals with large amounts of unstructured data from the Internet, photos, video, audio, social
networks, and sensors

• Special big data hardware and software can be more effective than traditional relational
DBMSs

• Some people have concerns organizations are harvesting huge amounts of personal data

Data Warehouses, Data Marts, and Data Mining

• Data warehouse – Database that holds business information from many sources in the
enterprise

• Data mart – Subset of a data warehouse

• Data mining – Information-analysis tool that involves the automated discovery of

patterns and relationships in a data warehouse

• Predictive analysis:

– Form of data mining that combines historical data with assumptions about future
conditions to predict outcomes of events

– Used by retailers to upgrade occasional customers into frequent purchasers

– Used to predict future sales up to a year in the future

Business Intelligence (continued)

• Data loss prevention (DLP):

 – Refers to systems designed to lock down data within an organization

– Powerful tool for counterintelligence

– A necessity in complying with government regulations that require companies to

safeguard private customer data

Distributed Databases

• Distributed database:

– Database in which the data may be spread across several smaller databases connected
via telecommunications devices

– Gives corporations more flexibility in how databases are organized and used

• Replicated database: – Holds a duplicate set of frequently used data

Object-Relational Database Management Systems

• Object-oriented database:

– Stores both data and its processing instructions

– Uses an object-oriented database management system (OODBMS) to provide a user

interface and connections to other programs

• Object-relational database management system (ORDBMS)

– Provides the ability for third parties to add new data types and operations to the
database

Visual, Audio, and Other Database Systems

• Visual databases: – Used to store images of charge slips, X-rays, vital records – Can be
stored in some object-relational databases or special-purpose database systems

• Spatial data technology: – Using database to store and access data according to the
locations it describes