Shaira Laine D.

Bugayong AC4a T 10:00am-1:00pm

COMPARATIVE PAPER ON THE DATABASE LOGICAL MODELS

Data is the most important part of an application system. A good, strong, and accurate
data structure allows application developers to design any processing, user interface, reporting,
or statistical analysis ever needed. A logical data model is a foundation for designing a database
that supports the business requirements. Database designers start their design with a complete
picture of the business requirements and can then determine the best implementation approach.
This allows designers to use their expertise in data access paths, data distribution and
placement, and access efficiency to create a database that will satisfy business requirements
for years to come.

There are five identified database logical models developed by designers. First is the
hierarchical model that uses an upside-down tree structure that links a number of different
elements to one "owner," or "parent," primary record. One of its strength is the easy addition
and deletion of new information and also data at the top of the hierarchy is very fast to access.
Second is the network model which was an advancement from the hierarchical model and was
designed to solve some of that model's problems. It uses multiple member records or files can
be linked to multiple owner files and vice versa instead of only allowing only one owner. Third is
the relational model which is a huge leap forward from the network model. As a replacement for
relying on an owner-member relationship, the relational model uses any file to be related to any
other by means of a common field. It is a collective set of multiple data sets organized by tables,
records and columns and establishes a well-defined relationship between database tables.
Tables communicate and share information, which facilitates data search ability, organization
and reporting. Fourth is the entity-relationship model. It uses theoretical and conceptual way of
showing data relationships in software development. It generates an abstract diagram or visual
representation of a systems data that can be helpful in designing a relational database. Last,
the star schema which uses one fact table references multiple dimension tables, which, when
viewed as a diagram, looks like a star with the fact table in the center and the dimension tables
radiating from it.

However, there are also disadvantages that exist in each type of model. A hierarchical
model is not extremely flexible because adding new relationships can result in wholesale
changes to the existing structure, which in turn means all existing applications need to change
as well. Although it represents one-to-many relationships well, it has problems with many-to-
many relationships due to its difficulty in implementing some relationships. In a network model, it
is more difficult to implement and maintain, and, although more flexible than the hierarchical
model, it still has flexibility problems, because not all relations can be satisfied by assigning
another owner. The relational model is easy to implement and use but it will create a situation
where too many people or departments will create their own databases and applications. As a
result, information islands will prevent the information integration that is essential for the smooth
and efficient functioning of the organization. These individual databases will also create
problems like data inconsistency, data duplication, and data redundancy. The main
disadvantage of the star schema is that data integrity is not enforced as well as it is in a highly
normalized database. One-off inserts and updates can result in data anomalies which
normalized schemas are designed to avoid. Generally speaking, star schemas are loaded in a
highly controlled fashion via batch processing or near-real time "trickle feeds", to compensate
for the lack of protection afforded by normalization.