Advanced Database Technologies

Database Design

Lecture By:
Teklu Urgessa (PhD)

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 Objectives

• In this chapter, you will learnt hat:

– successful database design must reflect the
information system of which the database is a
part
– successful information systems are developed
within a framework known as the Systems
Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

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 Objectives (continued)
• You will learn that: within the information
system, the most successful databases are
subject to frequent evaluation and revision
within a framework known as the Database Life
Cycle (DBLC)
– How to conduct evaluation and revision within
the SDLC and DBLC frameworks
– About database design strategies: top-down vs.
bottom-up design and centralized vs.
decentralized design

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 The Information System
• Provides for data collection, storage, and
retrieval
• Composed of:
– People, hardware, software
– Database(s), application programs, procedures
• Systems analysis
– Process that establishes need for and extent of
information system
• Systems development
– Process of creating information system
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 The Information System (continued)
• Applications
– Transform data into information that forms basis
for decision making
– Usually produce the following:
• Formal report
• Tabulations
• Graphic displays
– Composed of following two parts:
• Data
• Code by which data are transformed into
information
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 The Information System (continued)
• Performance depends on three factors:
– Database design and implementation
– Application design and implementation
– Administrative procedures
• Database development
– Process of database design and implementation
– Implementation phase includes:
• Creating database storage structure
• Loading data into the database
• Providing for data management
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The Systems Development Life Cycle
(SDLC)
• Traces history (life cycle) of information system
• Database design and application development
mapped out and evaluated
• Divided into following five phases:
– Planning
– Analysis
– Detailed systems design
– Implementation
– Maintenance
• Iterative rather than sequential process
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 Planning
• General overview of company and objectives
• Assessment of flow-and-extent requirements
– Should the existing system be continued?
– Should the existing system be modified?
– Should the existing system be replaced?
• Study and evaluate alternate solutions
– Technical aspects of hardware and software
requirements
– System cost
– Operational cost
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 Analysis
• Problems defined during planning phase
examined in greater detail during analysis
• Thorough audit of user requirements
• Existing hardware and software systems are
studied
• Goal:
– Better understanding of:
• System’s functional areas
• Actual and potential problems
• Opportunities
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 Detailed Systems Design

• Designer completes design of system’s

processes
• Includes all necessary technical specifications
• Steps laid out for conversion from old to new
system
• Training principles and methodologies are also
planned
– Submitted for management approval

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 Implementation

• Hardware, DBMS software, and application

programs are installed
– Database design implemented
• Cycle of coding, testing, and debugging
continues until database ready for delivery
• Database created and system customized
– Creation of tables and views
– User authorizations

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 Maintenance

• Three types of maintenance activity:

– Corrective maintenance
– Adaptive maintenance
– Perfective maintenance
• Computer-aided systems engineering
(CASE)
– Produce better systems within reasonable
amount of time and at reasonable cost
– CASE-produced applications are structured,
documented, standardized
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 The Database Life Cycle (DBLC)

• Six phases:
– Database initial study
– Database design
– Implementation and loading
– Testing and evaluation
– Operation
– Maintenance and evolution

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 The Database Initial Study

• Overall purpose:
– Analyze company situation
– Define problems and constraints
– Define objectives
– Define scope and boundaries
• Interactive and iterative processes required to
complete first phase of DBLC successfully

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The Database Initial Study (continued)
• Analyze the company situation
– General conditions in which company operates,
its organizational structure, and its mission
– Discover what company’s operational
components are, how they function, and how
they interact
• Define problems and constraints
– Formal and informal information sources
– Finding precise answers is important
– Accurate problem definition does not always
yield a solution

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The Database Initial Study (continued)

• Database system objectives must correspond

to those envisioned by end users
– What is proposed system’s initial objective?
– Will system interface with other systems in the
company?
– Will system share data with other systems or
users?
• Scope: extent of design according to
operational requirements
• Boundaries: limits external to system
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 Database Design

• Necessary to concentrate on data

• Characteristics required to build database
model
• Two views of data within system:
– Business view
• Data as information source
– Designer’s view
• Data structure, access, and activities required to
transform data into information

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 I. Conceptual Design

• Data modeling creates an abstract database

structure
– Represents real-world objects
• Embodies clear understanding of business and
its functional areas
• Ensure that all data needed are in model, and
that all data in model are needed
• Requires four steps

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 I. Conceptual Design (continued)

• Data analysis and requirements

– Discover data element characteristics
• Obtains characteristics from different sources
– Take into account business rules
• Derived from description of operations
• Entity relationship modeling and normalization
– Designer enforces standards in design
documentation
• Use of diagrams and symbols, documentation
writing style, layout, other conventions
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 I. Conceptual Design (continued)

• Data model verification

– Verified against proposed system processes
– Revision of original design
• Careful reevaluation of entities
• Detailed examination of attributes describing
entities
– Define design’s major components as modules:
• Module: information system component that
handles specific function

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 I. Conceptual Design (continued)

• Data model verification (continued)

– Verification process
• Select central (most important) entity
– Defined in terms of its participation in most of
model’s relationships
• Identify module or subsystem to which central
entity belongs and define boundaries and scope
• Place central entity within module’s framework

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 I. Conceptual Design (continued)

• Distributed database design

– Portions of database may reside in different

physical locations
– Processes accessing the database vary from
one location to another
– Designer must also develop data distribution
and allocation strategies

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 II. DBMS Software Selection

• Critical to information system’s smooth

operation
• Common factors affecting purchasing
decisions:
– Cost
– DBMS features and tools
– Underlying model
– Portability
– DBMS hardware requirements
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 III. Logical Design
• Translate conceptual design into internal model
• Logical design is software-dependent
• Requires all objects be mapped to specific
constructs used by selected database software
– Definition of attribute domains, design of
required tables, access restriction formats
– Tables must correspond to entities in conceptual
design
• Translates software-independent conceptual
model into software-dependent model
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 IV. Physical Design

• Process of selecting data storage and data

access characteristics of database
• Storage characteristics are function of:
– Device types supported by hardware
– Type of data access methods supported by
system
– DBMS
• More complex when data are distributed

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 Implementation and Loading
• New database implementation requires special
storage-related constructs for end-user tables
• Performance
– Difficult to evaluate
• Not all DBMSs have tools embedded
• No standard measurement
• Security:
– Physical and password security
– Access rights and audit trails
– Data encryption and diskless workstations
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 Implementation and Loading
(continued)
• Backup and Recovery
– Full backup
– Differential backup
– Transaction log backup
• Integrity
– Enforced via proper use of primary, foreign key
rules
• Company standards
– Standards may be partially defined
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 Testing and Evaluation

• Occurs in parallel with applications

programming
• Database tools used to prototype applications
• If implementation fails to meet some of
system’s evaluation criteria:
– Fine-tune specific system and DBMS
configuration parameters
– Modify physical or logical design
– Upgrade software and/or hardware platform

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 Operation

• Once database has passed evaluation stage, it

is considered operational
• Beginning of operational phase starts process
of system evolution
• Problems not foreseen during testing surface
• Solutions may include:
– Load-balancing software to distribute
transactions among multiple computers
– Increasing available cache
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 Maintenance and Evolution

• Required periodic maintenance:

– Preventive maintenance (backup)
– Corrective maintenance (recovery)
– Adaptive maintenance
– Assignment of access permissions and their
maintenance for new and old users
– Generation of database access statistics
– Periodic security audits
– Periodic system-usage summaries

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 Database Design Strategies

• Top-down design
– Identifies data sets
– Defines data elements for each of those sets
• Definition of different entity types
• Definition of each entity’s attributes
• Bottom-up design
– Identifies data elements (items)
– Groups them together in data sets

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 Centralized vs. Decentralized Design

• Centralized design
– When data component is composed of small
number of objects and procedures
– Typical of small systems
• Decentralized design
– Data component has large number of entities
– Complex relations on which complex operations
performed
– Problem spread across several operational sites

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 Centralized vs. Decentralized Design
(continued)
• All modules integrated into one model
• Aggregation problems to be addressed:
• Synonyms and homonyms
• Entity and entity subtypes
• Conflicting object definitions

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 Summary

• Information system facilitates transformation of

data into information
– Manages both data and information
• SDLC traces history (life cycle) of an
application within the information system
• DBLC describes history of database within the
information system

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 Summary (continued)

• Database design and implementation process

moves through series of well-defined stages
• Conceptual design subject to several variations:
– Top-down vs. bottom-up
– Centralized vs. decentralized

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