Database design

Database design refers to the systematic process of creating a structured and

efficient database system that effectively organizes, stores, manages, and
retrieves data to meet the information needs of an organization or application.
It involves designing the architecture, layout, and relationships of data
elements within the database to ensure data accuracy, integrity, security, and
optimal performance.
Database design can be generally defined as a collection of tasks or processes
that enhance the designing, development, implementation, and maintenance of
enterprise data management system.
Database design involves organizing data based on a specific model. The
designer determines which data should be stored and how they are connected.
This process includes classifying data and establishing relationships. This
theoretical representation of the data is called an ontology. The ontology is the
theory behind the database's design.
The importance of database design

The important consideration that can be taken into an account while

emphasizing the importance of database design can be explained in terms of
the following points given below.

1. Database designs provide the blueprints of how the data is going to be

stored in a system. A proper design of a database highly affects the
overall performance of any application.
2. The designing principles defined for a database give a clear idea of the
behavior of any application and how the requests are processed.
3. Another instance to emphasize the database design is that a proper
database design meets all the requirements of users.
4. Lastly, the processing time of an application is greatly reduced if the
constraints of designing a highly efficient database are properly
implemented.
Conceptual Model

Conceptual design of secure databases encompasses the creation of a

platform-independent data model that incorporates security requirements and
constraints. Following the requirements analysis, conceptual design is the
basis for further steps in database design that subsequently transform the
database conceptualization into a platform-dependent model and an
implementation.

The conceptual data model describes the database at a very high level and is
useful to understand the needs or requirements of the database. It is this
model, that is used in the requirement-gathering process i.e. before the
Database Designers start making a particular database. One such popular
model is the entity relationship model (ER model). The ER model specializes
in entities, relationships, and even attributes that are used by database
designers. In terms of this concept, a discussion can be made even with non-
computer science(non-technical) users and stakeholders, and their
requirements can be understood.

Characteristics of a conceptual data model

 Offers Organization-wide coverage of the business concepts.
 This type of Data Models are designed and developed for a business
audience.
 The conceptual model is developed independently of hardware
specifications like data storage capacity, location or software
specifications like DBMS vendor and technology. The focus is to
represent data as a user will see it in the “real world.”
Conceptual data models known as Domain models create a common
vocabulary for all stakeholders by establishing basic concepts and scope.
Some the key principles of conceptual design are :
 Identify the essential entities: The first step is to identify the essential
entities in the application domain. These are the entities that are
necessary for the application to function.
 Identify the relationships between entities: Once the essential entities
have been identified, the next step is to identify the relationships
between them. These relationships can be one-to-one, one-to-many, or
many-to-many.
 Minimize redundancy: Redundancy is the duplication of data in a
database. It should be minimized to improve efficiency and reduce the
risk of errors.
 Use normalization: Normalization is the process of organizing data in a
database in a way that minimizes redundancy and improves data
integrity.
 Use a consistent naming convention: A consistent naming convention
should be used for all entities and relationships. This will help to
improve readability and understanding of the data model.
Logical Model
The aim of logical design is to construct a relational schema that correctly
and efficiently represents all of the information described by an Entity-
Relationship schema produced during the conceptual design phase.
The advantage of using a logical model is to provide a foundation to form
the base for the Physical model.
The logical design is concerned with factors such as the following:
 The data types of the attributes
 The constraints on the data
 The relationships between the entities
The output of the logical design is a logical data model. A logical data
model is a graphical representation of the entities and relationships in the
database. It is used by the database designer to create the physical
database.
The logical design process typically involves the following steps:
 Translate the conceptual data model: The first step is to translate the
conceptual data model into a logical data model. This can be done
by assigning data types to the attributes and specifying the
constraints on the data.
 Identify the primary keys: The next step is to identify the primary
keys for each entity. The primary key is a unique identifier for each
row in a table.
 Identify the foreign keys: Once the primary keys have been
identified, the next step is to identify the foreign keys. A foreign key
is an attribute in a table that refers to the primary key of another
table.
  Normalize the data: The final step is to normalize the data.
Normalization is the process of organizing data in a way that
minimizes redundancy and improves data integrity.
The logical design is an important part of database design because it
ensures that the database is designed to be efficient and scalable. It also
helps to identify the requirements for the physical design.
Here are some of the key principles of logical design:
 Choose the right data types: The data types of the attributes should
be chosen carefully to ensure that the data is stored in the most
efficient way.
 Specify the constraints on the data: The constraints on the data
should be specified to ensure that the data is always valid.
 Identify the primary keys: The primary keys should be identified for
each entity to ensure that each row in a table is unique.
 Identify the foreign keys: The foreign keys should be identified to
ensure that the data in related tables is consistent.
 Normalize the data: The data should be normalized to minimize
redundancy and improve data integrity.
Characteristics of Logical Design
 Independent of any specific database management system (DBMS): A
logical model is not tied to any particular DBMS, so it can be used to
design a database that can be implemented on any DBMS.
 Detailed representation of the entities and relationships: A logical
model provides a detailed representation of the entities and
relationships in the database. This includes the data types of the
attributes, the constraints on the data, and the relationships between the
entities.
 Used to create the physical database: The logical model is used to
create the physical database. This is done by translating the logical
model into the specific schema of the DBMS that will be used.
Physical Design