Data base design process

Database design is the process of producing a detailed data model of database

to meet an end users requirement.
Qualities of a Good Database Design
Reflects real-world structure of the problem
Can represent all expected data over time
Avoids redundancy and ensures Consistency
Provides efficient access to data
Supports the maintenance of data integrity over time
The process of database design is divided into different parts. It consists of a
series of steps. They are
Requirement Analysis
Conceptual Database Design (ER-Diagram)
Logical Database Design (Tables, Normalization etc)
Physical Database design (Table Indexing, Clustering
etc)




Requirement Analysis
In this phase a detailed analysis of the requirement is done. The objective of
this phase is to get a clear understanding of the requirements.It make use of
various information gathering methods for this purpose. some of them are
Interview,Analyzing documents,Survey,Site visit,Joint Applications Design
(JAD) and Joint Requirements Analysis (JRA),Prototyping.
Conceptual Database Design
The requirement analysis is modeled in this conceptual design. Conceptual
design begins with the collection of requirements and results needed from the
database (ER Diag.)
Data
Requirements
Conceptual
Design
Logical
Design
Physical
Design
Conceptual Schema
Specification of requirements
and results
Logical Schema
Physical Schema
It is a process of constructing a data model for each view of the real world
problem which is independent of physical considerations.
This step involves :
Constructing the ER Model
Check the model for redundancy
Validating the model against user transactions to ensure all the
scenarios are supported
The ER Model is used at the conceptual design stage of the database design.
ER diagram consists of Entities, Attributes and Relationships.
Logical Database Design
It is a process of constructing a model of information , which can then be
mapped into storage objects supported by the Database Management System.
This step involves:
Table Generation From ER Model
Normalization of Tables
Once the relationships and dependencies are identified the data can be
arranged into logical structures and is mapped into database management
system tables.
Normalization is performed to make the relations in appropriate normal forms.
Logical schema is a description of the structure of the database (Relational,
Network, etc.)
Physical Database Design
It deals with the physical implementation of the database in a database
management system. It include the specification of data elements, data types,
indexing etc. All these information are stored in the data dictionary . The
physical design of the database specifies the physical configuration of the
database on the storage media.
This step involves describing the base relations, file organisations, and
indexes design used to achieve efficient access to the data, and any associated
integrity constraints and security measures.
Physical schema is a description of the implementation (programs, tables,
dictionaries, catalogs).