DATABASE SYSTEMS, DATA

WAREHOUSES, AND DATA

MARTS
learning outcomes
LO1 Define a database and a database management
system.
LO2 Explain logical database design and the relational
database model.
LO3 Define the components of a database management
system.
LO4 Summarize recent trends in database design and
use.
LO5 Explain the components and functions of a data
warehouse.
l e a r n i n g o u t c o m e s (cont’d.)
LO6 Describe the functions of a data mart.
Databases
• Database
– Collection of related data that can be stored in a
central location or in multiple locations
– Usually a group of files
• File
– Group of related records
– All files are integrated
• Record
– Group of related fields
• Data hierarchy
Exhibit 3.1 Data Hierarchy
Databases (cont’d.)
• Critical component of information systems
– Any type of analysis that’s done is based on data
available in the database
• Database management system (DBMS)
– Creating, storing, maintaining, and accessing
database files
• Advantages over a flat file system
Exhibit 3.2 Interaction between the User, DBMC, and Database
Types of Data in a Database
• Internal data
– Collected within organization
• External data
– Sources
BI in Action: Law Enforcement
• Business intelligence (BI)
– Used in law enforcement as well as in the business
world
• Richmond, Virginia
– System generates BI reports that help pinpoint crime
patterns
– Allocate manpower to days and locations where crime
likely to occur
Methods for Accessing Files
• Sequential file structure
– Records organized and processed in numerical or
sequential order
– Organized based on a “primary key”
– Usually used for backup and archive files
• Because they need updating only rarely
• Random access file structure
– Records can be accessed in any order
– Fast and very effective when a small number of
records need to be processed daily or weekly
Methods for Accessing Files (cont’d.)
• Indexed sequential access method (ISAM)
– Records accessed sequentially or randomly
– Depending on the number being accessed
• Indexed access
– Uses an index structure with two parts:
• Indexed value
• Pointer to the disk location of the record matching
the indexed value
Logical Database Design
• Physical view
– How data is stored on and retrieved from storage
media
• Logical view
– How information appears to users
– How it can be organized and retrieved
– Can be more than one logical view
Logical Database Design (cont’d.)
• Data model
– Determines how data is created, represented,
organized
– Includes:
• Data structure
• Operations
• Integrity rules
• Hierarchical model
– Relationships between records form a treelike
structure
Exhibit 3.3 A Hierarchical Model
Logical Database Design (cont’d.)
• Network model
– Similar to the hierarchical model
– Records are organized differently
Exhibit 3.4 A Network Model
The Relational Model
• Relational model
– Uses a two-dimensional table of rows and columns of
data
• Data dictionary
– Field name
– Field data type
– Default value
– Validation rule
The Relational Model (cont’d.)
• Primary key
– Unique identifier
• Foreign key
– Establishes relationships between tables
• Normalization
– Improves database efficiency
– Eliminates redundant data
– 1NF through 3NF (or 5NF)
The Relational Model (cont’d.)
• Data retrieval
– Select
– Project
– Join
– Intersection
– Union
– Difference
Components of a DBMS
• Database engine
• Data definition
• Data manipulation
• Application generation
• Data administration
Database Engine
• Heart of DBMS software
• Responsible for data storage, manipulation, and
retrieval
• Converts logical requests from users into their
physical equivalents
Data Definition
• Create and maintain the data dictionary
• Define the structure of files in a database
– Adding fields
– Deleting fields
– Changing field size
– Changing data type
Data Manipulation
• Add, delete, modify, and retrieve records from a
database
• Query language
– Structured Query Language (SQL)
• Standard fourth-generation query language used
by many DBMS packages
• SELECT statement
– Query by example (QBE)
• Construct statement of query forms
• Graphical interface
Application Generation
• Design elements of an application using a
database
– Data entry screens
– Interactive menus
– Interfaces with other programming languages
Data Administration
• Used for:
– Backup and recovery
– Security
– Change management
• Create, read, update, and delete (CRUD)
• Database administrator (DBA)
– Individual or department
– Responsibilities
Recent Trends in Database Design and Use
• Data-driven Web sites
• Natural language processing
• Distributed databases
• Client/server databases
• Object-oriented databases
Data-Driven Web Sites
• Data-driven Web site
– Interface to a database
– Retrieves data and allows users to enter data
• Improves access to information
• Useful for:
– E-commerce sites that need frequent updates
– News sites that need regular updating of content
– Forums and discussion groups
– Subscription services, such as newsletters
Distributed Databases
• Distributed database
– Data is stored on multiple servers placed throughout
an organization
• Reasons for choosing
• Approaches for setup
– Fragmentation
– Replication
– Allocation
• Security issues
Client/Server Databases
• Client/server database
– Users’ workstations (clients) linked in a local area
network (LAN) to share the services of a single server
– Server processes data
– Returns only records meeting request
Object-Oriented Databases
• Object-oriented database
– Object consists of attributes and methods
• Encapsulation
– Grouping objects along with their attributes and
methods into a class
• Inheritance
– New objects can be created faster and more easily by
entering new data in attributes
• Interaction with an object-oriented database
takes places via methods
Data Warehouses
• Data warehouse
– Collection of data used to support decision-making
applications and generate business intelligence
• Multidimensional data
• Characteristics
– Subject oriented
– Integrated
– Time variant
– Type of data
– Purpose
Input
• Variety of sources
– External
– Databases
– Transaction files
– ERP systems
– CRM systems
ETL
• Extraction, transformation, and loading
(ETL)
• Extraction
– Collecting data from a variety of sources
– Converting data into a format that can be used in
transformation processing
• Transformation processing
– Make sure data meets the data warehouse’s needs
• Loading
– Process of transferring data to the data warehouse
Exhibit 3.9 A Data Warehouse Configuration
Storage
• Raw data
• Summary data
• Metadata
Output
• Data warehouse supports different types of
analysis
– Generates reports for decision making
• Online analytical processing (OLAP)
– Generates business intelligence
– Uses multiple sources of information and provides
multidimensional analysis
– Hypercube
– Drill down and drill up
Exhibit 3.10 Slicing and Dicing Data
Output (cont’d.)
• Data-mining analysis
– Discover patterns and relationships
• Reports
– Cross-reference segments of an organization’s
operations for comparison purposes
– Find patterns and trends that can’t be found with
databases
– Analyze large amounts of historical data quickly
Data Warehouse Applications at InterContinental
Hotels Group (IHG)
• The new system has increased the company’s
query response time from hours to minutes
• It has generated valuable BI on both its
customers and the competition
• Future plans include the migration of financial
data, which will enable IHG to perform side-by-
side analyses of operations, marketing, sales,
and financial data
Data Marts
• Data mart
– Smaller version of data warehouse
– Used by single department or function
• Advantages over data warehouses
• More limited scope than data warehouses
Summary
• Databases
– Accessing files
– Design principles
– Components
– Recent trends
• Data warehouses and data marts