Principles of Information

Systems, Eleventh Edition

Chapter 6
Database Systems, Data Centers,
and Business Intelligence
Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh   1  
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 Principles  and  Learning  Objec0ves  
•  Data  management  and  modeling  are  key  
aspects  of  organizing  data  and  informa0on  
–  Define  general  data  management  concepts  and  
terms,  highligh0ng  the  advantages  of  the  
database  approach  to  data  management  
–  Describe  logical  and  physical  database  design  
considera0ons,  the  func0on  of  data  centers,  and  
the  rela0onal  database  model  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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 Why  Learn  About  Database  
Systems  and  Business  Intelligence?  
•  Database:  
–  Organized  collec0on  of  data  
•  Database  management  system  (DBMS):  
–  Group  of  programs  that  manipulate  the  database    
–  Provide  an  interface  between  the  database  and  its  
users  and  other  applica0on  programs  
•  Database  administrator  (DBA):  
–  Skilled  IS  professional  who  directs  all  ac0vi0es  
related  to  an  organiza0on’s  database  
Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  
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 Data  Management  
•  Without  data  and  the  ability  to  process  it:  
–  An  organiza0on  could  not  successfully  complete  
most  business  ac0vi0es  
•  Data  consists  of  raw  facts  
•  To  transform  data  into  useful  informa0on:  
–  It  must  first  be  organized  in  a  meaningful  way  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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 The  Hierarchy  of  Data  
•  Bit  (a  binary  digit):  
–  Circuit  that  is  either  on  or  off  
•  Byte:  
–  Typically  made  up  of  eight  bits  
•  Character:  
–  Basic  building  block  of  informa0on  
•  Field:  
–  Name,  number,  or  combina0on  of  characters  that  
describes  an  aspect  of  a  business  object  or  ac0vity  
Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  
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 The  Hierarchy  of  Data  (con0nued)  
•  Record:  
–  Collec0on  of  related  data  fields  
•  File:  
–  Collec0on  of  related  records  
•  Database:  
–  Collec0on  of  integrated  and  related  files  
•  Hierarchy  of  data:  
–  Bits,  characters,  fields,  records,  files,  and  
databases  
Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  
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The  Hierarchy  of  Data  (con0nued)  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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 Data  En00es,  A[ributes,  and  Keys  
•  En0ty:  
–  A  person,  place,  or  thing  for  which  data  is  
collected,  stored,  and  maintained  
•  A[ribute:  
–  Characteris0c  of  an  en0ty  
•  Data  item:  
–  Specific  value  of  an  a[ribute  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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Data  En00es,  A[ributes,  and  Keys  
(con0nued)  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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 Data  En00es,  A[ributes,  and  Keys  
(con0nued)  
•  Key:  
–  Field  or  set  of  fields  in  a  record  that  is  used  to  
iden0fy  the  record  
•  Primary  key:  
–  Field  or  set  of  fields  that  uniquely  iden0fies  the  
record  

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 The  Database  Approach  
•  The  database  approach:  
–  Tradi0onal  approach  to  data  management:  
•  Each  dis0nct  opera0onal  system  used  data  files  
dedicated  to  that  system  
–  Database  approach  to  data  management:  
•  Pool  of  related  data  is  shared  by  mul0ple  applica0on  
programs  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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The  Database  Approach  
(con0nued)  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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 Data  Centers,  Data  Modeling  and  
Database  Characteris0cs  
•  When  building  a  database,  an  organiza0on  
must  consider:    
–  Content:  What  data  should  be  collected  and  at  
what  cost?  
–  Access:  What  data  should  be  provided  to  which  
users  and  when?  
–  Logical  structure:  How  should  data  be  arranged  so  
that  it  makes  sense  to  a  given  user?  
–  Physical  organiza0on:  Where  should  data  be  
physically  located?  
Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  
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 Data  Center  
•  Climate-­‐controlled  building  or  set  of  buildings  
that  house  database  servers  and  the  systems  
that  deliver  mission-­‐cri0cal  informa0on  and  
services  
•  Tradi0onal  data  centers:  
–  Consist  of  warehouses  filled  with  row  upon  row  of  
server  racks  and  powerful  cooling  systems  

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 Data  Center  (con0nued)  
•  Many  organiza0ons  now  use  large  shipping  
containers  packed  with  racks  of  servers  and  
cooled  to  easily  connect  and  set  up  
•  Businesses  and  technology  vendors  working  to  
develop  green  data  centers  that  run  more  
efficiently  and  require  less  energy  for  
processing  and  cooling  
•  Backup  and  security  procedures  for  data  
centers  can  be  a  concern  
Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  
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 Data  Modeling  
•  Data  model:  
–  Diagram  of  data  en00es  and  their  rela0onships  
•  Enterprise  data  modeling:  
–  Starts  by  inves0ga0ng  the  general  data  and  
informa0on  needs  of  the  organiza0on  at  the  
strategic  level  
•  En0ty-­‐rela0onship  (ER)  diagrams:  
–  Data  models  that  use  basic  graphical  symbols  to  
show  the  organiza0on  of  and  rela0onships  
between  data  Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh   16  
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Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  
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 Database  Management  Systems    
•  Crea0ng  and  implemen0ng  the  right  database  
system  ensures  that  the  database  will  support  
both  business  ac0vi0es  and  goals  
•  Capabili0es  and  types  of  database  systems  
vary  considerably  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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 Overview  of  Database  Types  
•  Flat  file  
–  Simple  database  program  whose  records  have  no  
rela0onship  to  one  another  
•  Single  user  
–  Only  one  person  can  use  the  database  at  a  0me  
–  Examples:  Access,  FileMaker  Pro,  and  InfoPath  
•  Mul0ple  users  
–  Allow  dozens  or  hundreds  of  people  to  access  the  same  
database  system  at  the  same  0me  
–  Examples:  Oracle,  Microsod,  Sybase,  and  IBM  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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 Providing  a  User  View  
•  Schema:  
–  Used  to  describe  the  en0re  database  
–  Can  be  part  of  the  database  or  a  separate  schema  
file  
•  DBMS:  
–  Can  reference  a  schema  to  find  where  to  access  
the  requested  data  in  rela0on  to  another  piece  of  
data  

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Manipula0ng  Data  and  Genera0ng  
Reports  
•  Query  by  Example  (QBE)  is  a  visual  approach  to  
developing  database  queries  or  requests  
•  Data  manipula0on  language  (DML):  
–  Commands  that  manipulate  the  data  in  a  database  
•  Structured  query  language  (SQL):  
–  the  standard  query  language  for  rela0onal  databases  
•  Once  a  database  has  been  set  up  and  loaded  with  
data,  it  can  produce  reports,  documents,  and  other  
outputs  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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 Database  Administra0on  
•  DBA:  
–  Works  with  users  to  decide  the  content  of  the  
database  
–  Works  with  programmers  as  they  build  
applica0ons  to  ensure  that  their  programs  comply  
with  database  management  system  standards  and  
conven0ons  
•  Data  administrator:  
–  Responsible  for  defining  and  implemen0ng  
consistent  principles  for  a  variety  of  data  issues  
Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  
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 Popular  Database  Management  
Systems  
•  Popular  DBMSs  for  end  users:  
–  Microsod’s  Access  and  FileMaker  Pro  
–  Number  of  open  source  DBMS  including  
PostgreSQL,  MySQL,  and  CouchDB  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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 Popular  Database  Management  
Systems  (con0nued)  
•  Database  as  a  Service  (DaaS):  
–  Emerging  database  system      
–  Database  administra0on  is  provided  by  the  service  
provider  
–  The  database  is  stored  on  a  service  provider’s  
servers  and  accessed  by  the  client  over  a  network  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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Special-­‐Purpose  Database  Systems  
•  NoSQL  DBMSs  can  handle  data  that  does  not  
fit  into  tables  required  by  tradi0onal  rela0onal  
databases  
•  Apple’s  iTunes  sodware  uses  special-­‐purpose  
data  to  allow  users  to  find  songs  

Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  

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Data  Warehouses,  Data  Marts,  and  
Data  Mining  
•  Data  warehouse  
–  Database  that  holds  business  informa0on  from  
many  sources  in  the  enterprise  
•  Data  mart  
–  Subset  of  a  data  warehouse  
•  Data  mining  
–  Informa0on-­‐analysis  tool  that  involves  the  
automated  discovery  of  pa[erns  and  rela0onships  
in  a  data  warehouse  
Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  
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Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  
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 Business  Intelligence  
•  Involves  gathering  enough  of  the  right  
informa0on:    
–  In  a  0mely  manner  and  usable  form  and  analyzing  
it  to  have  a  posi0ve  impact  on  business  strategy,  
tac0cs,  or  opera0ons      
•  Compe00ve  intelligence:    
–  Limited  to  informa0on  about  compe0tors  and  the  
ways  that  knowledge  affects  strategy,  tac0cs,  and  
opera0ons  
Principles  of  Informa0on  Systems,  Eleventh  
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