Database Reference
In-Depth Information
TPC-D. Not applicable to OLTP systems. Designed for decision support systems
such as OLAP systems. Consists of a set of 17 queries in SQL, with some complex
SQL features such as aggregation.
When using a particular benchmark, try to understand what it measures, in what
context, and in which environment. Is the selected benchmark meaningful to your
environment? How well does the benchmark apply to your workload?
GROWTH AND ENHANCEMENTS
Let us assume that the deployment of a database system by your project team is a
great initial success. What can you expect in the next six months to a year after
deployment? Initial success makes a database system dynamic and vibrant. You can
be sure of sharp growth and a demand for additional applications using the data-
base. The benefits of data integration and data sharing will result in greater collab-
oration among departments.
As users begin to use the initial applications more and more, you will notice sub-
stantial increase in data volumes. When the users realize the advantages of the data-
base system, they will demand additional applications. Executives and managers will
request new types of applications to provide summary information. Requests for
enhancements to the initial applications will come in as a continuous stream.
Business conditions change. Your organization might expand into newer regions,
and the users in these new areas would need access to the database. Progressive
companies expanding through acquisitions need to have their database enlarged to
accommodate additional data. These types of changes also result in revisions and
enhancements to the database schema itself.
After a successful deployment of the database system, you must expect growth,
revisions, and enhancements. And you must be prepared to manage the growth and
enhancements. You must have procedures in place to handle the expansion of the
database. We will consider ongoing growth and enhancements by first listing a few
practical tips. Then we will cover application enhancements and schema revisions.
Finally, we will discuss upgrades to the DBMS.
Ongoing Growth and Enhancements
The underlying principle is to anticipate growth and be prepared. If growth and
enhancements are not properly managed, the adverse results will show up as user
frustration and loss of productivity. Here are a few tips for managing growth and
enhancements:
Constantly monitor increases in data volumes. Observe the trends and be pre-
pared to have additional disk space at short notice.
Discourage users, programmers, and analysts from having their own private
database tables in the development or test environment. If allowed, very soon
these go out of control. All tables must be created through the DBA.
The entire production database must be under the control of the DBA. Do not
permit anyone else to create production tables.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search