Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 2
Database Design and
Windows Azure Data Storage
Objectives
◾
Become familiar with relational databases
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Understand database design and data modeling
◾
Learn how to use database development tools
2.1 Introduction
As the center of an information system, a database is used to store and manage data gener-
ated by day-to-day business processes. As pointed out by many experienced information system
professionals, if a database is not carefully designed, it will cause chaos for an entire enterprise.
In many cases, it may be too diicult to make changes in database structures after a database
is populated with terabytes or even petabytes of data. herefore, we must take database design
seriously.
A well-built database should meet the needs of business requirements. To achieve the goal, a
database designer needs to investigate the database requirements and to structure database objects
to meet the requirements. hese tasks can be accomplished through a database design process,
which includes the phases of conceptual design, database design, and physical design. he low-
chart in Figure 2.1 lists the activities in each design phase.
he deinition of conceptual design, database design, and physical design may vary from one
author to another. In the lowchart (Figure 2.1), we consider the logical design phase as software-
independent and the physical design phase as software-dependent. he detailed description of
each phase is given in the following sections.
