Analysis of Relational Databases and Database Suitability - Essay Example

?Relational Databases Databases A data base is any organized collection of data. It contains one or several tables of information. Records are the rows contained in a table while attributes or fields are the columns contained in the table. There are several types of databases. Some of these include flat databases and a relational databases. A flat database contains only one table. A database which contains one or several related tables is referred to as a relational database (Harrington, 2002). In a relational database, symbols are organized into a collection of relations. The construction of a relational database is built around the concepts of relations. This theory include relational algebra (which is a set of mathematical operators which operate on relations and produce relation results), relation variables, and relational comparison operators. A database suitability of a given kind of database, either object oriented or relational databases, depends on the requirements of the user. The anatomy of a relation consist of the body, which is the cardinality of the relation, attribute name and attribute values (Halpin & Morgan, 2010). The number of attributes is referred to as the degree of the relation, while the number of tuples is the cardinality. On the other hand, a set of attributes is the heading of the relation, and the set of tuples is the body of the relation. To manage a database and provide access to them, a database management system is used. Database management system is predominantly used in accepting commands provided by application programs and executing them on behalf of the user (Ritchie, 2002). This commands are written in database language of the database management system like SQL. Some of the responses include messages, results of queries, and completion of codes. Database management system normally operate as servers in order to support a wide variety of concurrent users. Application programs which run as clients for the set servers are its immediate users. These clients run on behalf of the end users. In transmission of this commands, communication protocol is required and also responses between servers and clients. When a client needs to submit information to the server, a connection must first be established between the client and the servers. This initiates a session. This session typically lasts until it’s terminated on an explicit request by the client. Relational databases have a wide range of application. Thus, this implies its importance in computing and data warehousing. Relational databases are important in disaster recovery planning. This is due to several reasons which are highlighted below; 1. Relational databases have an ease of maintenance. Once a backup plan is developed using its maintenance is of great importance. Systems developed with relational databases are easy to maintain. This is due to the fact that once a simple entry is edited, the whole database is updated (Ritchie, 2002). Also, data from other sources can be easily be incorporated into the existing database. This is simply by importing the data using the import function into the current database. This is instantaneous and the imported data is automatically updated into the database. This makes the database maintenance easy since new information is added with easy. 2. Relational databases have ease of access. This is the most important factor during planning, developing maintaining, testing and the actual process of recovery. The interrelationship that characterizes relational database systems makes the recovery availability online easy and instantaneous. In the case in which the database relationship has been established sensibly, important information can be reached from any terminal which has accessibility to the mainframe. This is if and only if the system is operational. Apart from assisting in disaster preparedness, relational database are needed since there use ensures that there are minimal; duplication of data in a given relational databases. This is important since there is efficiency in storage, easiness in deleting or modifying entries, and minimal record changes needed. Relational databases are also needed since they offer ability to perform very complex queries. Using SQL, users to manipulate data in a relational database according to their needs. Also, relational databases offer better security. The splitting of data in a given relational databases enables one to make them confidential thus enhancing the data security (Halpin & Morgan, 2010). Lastly, the use of relational databases is needed since it facilitates cater for future requirements. For instance, holding data in separate tables, it is easier to add records which are needed in future but are currently not needed. Normalization in relational database is the process in which data is arranged such that data redundancy is minimized. The process of normalization involves dividing a database into two or more tables and clearly presenting the relationship between the divided tables. Normalization of data in a given relational database is aimed at isolating data in a table so that any manipulation in the table can easily be done in one table. The modification in the table is then transferred through the rest of the database using the previously defined database relationship. Relational database normalization is needed since it helps in removing duplicates from database records and keep the stored data’s integrity. Logical database design is different from physical database design in that logical designs is focused on collecting the information required in designing and developing a database and converting the gathered information into a model. Typically, the deliverables of logical modelling comprises entity relation diagram, Process diagrams, and User feedback documentation. On the other hand, physical database design is the actual design of the proposed database basing on the requirements gathered during logical modelling. Physical database design is aimed at conversion of the logical model into a relational database. In the process of physical modelling, objects which include columns, and tables are created. These are based on the attributes and entities that were defined during the process of logical design. SQL (Structured Query Language) is a specially designed programming language which is utilized in managing data that is contained in a relational database. This is the most widely used programming language (Harrington, 2002). SQL queries can be utilized in retrieving a very large amount of data from a relational database efficiently and quickly. Also, there is no coding that is required in using SQL. This makes it the most user friendly language. References Halpin, T., & Morgan, T. (2010). Information Modeling and Relational Databases. Burlington: Morgan Kaufmann. Harrington, J. L. (2002). Relational Database Design Clearly Explained. Carlifonia: Morgan Kaufmann. Ritchie, C. (2002). Relational Database Principles. London: Cengage Learning EMEA. Read More