Databases: What is it, what is it for and what types exist?

Companies today are characterized by handling a large number of data of different types, whether they are personal, inventory, financial, among others. Due to this, databases have become a fundamental tool for what is development of systems for organizations.

Can know, manipulate and manage All this information is very useful to carry out a endless activitiesespecially for business processes, such as power create a startup or even create more advanced topics like bid data.

Therefore, the most advisable thing in these cases is to be able to have all this information in an orderly manner and with security levels where they can only be found and consulted by authorized persons. Taking all this into account, here we explain a little more about what they are databases and what is their main function.

What is a database and what is it for in computing?

A database is one that is responsible for collect all the data of a company and organizes them according to their category so that they can be more easily searched and found through the computer system.

Currently this tool is also used to develop business analysiswhere the most modern have specific motors to extract complex reports according to the information that is stored.

It can also be said that it is a structured collection of records or information that is stored within a computer system, which will facilitate the search for such information. For this tool to be really functional it is necessary that store large amounts of records, allow easy access to it, offer security and so much the record changes as the new information can be done quickly.

In order to have an efficient system, it is necessary to use programs that are capable of manage the query and the information saved in the database. These programs are generally known as “Database Management System” or “DBMS”.

In addition to all these details, it is important that these tools are designed with a high logging capacityas well as with the capacity to Recover data in cases that occur faults in the hardware.

Characteristics of a database How should an ideal be?

Being able to manage an entire information correctly requires ideal processes performed properly in order to achieve satisfactory results. The main idea at the time create a database is to be able to create a useful tool that facilitate activities that need to be done to business or personal use.

It is important to note that when create this tool we can have a greater strategic control about records we have, thus allowing us to have a better control at all times.

According to this, here we explain the main characteristics of this system:

• the databases are usually made up of several tableswhich are called relationships.
• Each of these tables are a set of fields (columns) and records (rows).
• The relationship between a parent table and a child table is done through the primary keys and foreign keys.
• No two tables can have the same registration and name, each one of them is completely unique.
• primary keys they are the primary key of every record within a table. They are required to comply with data integrity.
• foreign keys must be placed in the child tablesthey contain the same values ​​as the primary key of parent record. It is through them that relational forms are realized.

What are the types and models of databases that exist?

Today there are different types of data where each of them has its own own modelthat is, the way in which they are structured. Among them we find what is the flat model, hierarchical model, relational model and the network model, among others, which we explain in detail below:

flat base model

This model has two dimensional data setwhere do you find one information column and within that column we can find that each of the data will have to do with the column.

An example of this is a flat base model that only has postal codes. Within the database only one column should be found where each of the rows within the column is a Postal Code different.

All this has a benefit and it is that it allows everyone existing records can be stored in one place. At the same time, it offers a fairly simple structure that works very well for those small databases and that it has minimum software and hardware requirements. Therefore, they are ideal for small businesses.

Hierarchical model

This model mainly resembles what is the structure of a tree, such which how Microsoft Windows is in charge of organizing all the folders and files stored on the system. Therefore, in this model each of the links is added in order to keep data organized in a particular order and at the same list level.

An example of this hierarchical model is related to sales, where you can include sales of each day for separate files. But, nested to this file you will find all the sales that were made that day.

All this model has some benefits for its usersthis is mainly because it offers one-to-one relationships, thus offering an easy-to-understand structure, even for those who they are not programmers. Therefore, once found the first record does not need to perform a scan on the index. Since each of logs will send you to the next log.

This is because all the information is stored in a common basethis makes be easier to see. In case you need to do modifications can be done simply replacing the existing data with the data new.

network models

network models are defining characteristics of when are stored records that contain a other records link, which is known as a network. Therefore, these networks can contain a variety of different types of information, either node of a disk, address or numbers.

Like the previous modelthe components of this network base can vary according to the relationships between father and son. In this way, it has a greater capacity to keep data that in hierarchical model.

In this case always there is a bond between a father and a sonso it is always maintains the integrity of the information. Also, by spending less time keeping records improves performance and efficiency.

relational model

This model is currently the most popular in this system, and it is that it stands out for being a tool extremely powerful compared to the others. This is how it offers great advantages when it comes to store information and to access it easily and quickly.

East relational model is organized in board shape, where information can be access or add without reorganizing the tables. In addition, a table can have a large number of records where each of them can have many fields. Sometimes these paintings are called relationship.

An example of this may be a company that has a base called “Customer Orders” within this base there must be different tables where they are all customer orderseach of this table can include customer information such as the name, address, contact, among others.

There must also be another table called relations, it is related to those customers who already have registration, that is to say that they have previously bought, these contain payment method, items, item descriptionamong others.

It is important to mention that each of these fields have a own Primary Key, this being the only field that makes it easy to identify a record. In addition, this will make it possible to restrict user data, either for make them visible or modify themthus offering greater security.

object oriented model

As its name indicates, it is related to objects used in object-oriented programming. The database works well with object-oriented languages ​​like Java, Smalltalk, Perl, C++, among others. In the event that the objects are similar, they are grouped in a single class and each of the objects a particular class is given the instance name.

These classes allow the programmer can define the data that is not included in the system. Taking into account that a class is the one that defines what data needed by the system. This prevents information corruption and thus increases security in the process.

Multidimensional Model

This model is found directly related to what is online analytical processing which way part of business intelligence and information storage. These online analytical processes They are the ones that facilitate the visualization of data from different points of view. They are used to be able to access multidimensional data.

These data can be viewed through cubes representing the different dimensions available. Furthermore, this allows combine the advantages of relational and hierarchical databases. Thus responding quickly to queries due to the optimized storage and multidimensional indexing.

Object-relational model

In this case, what is presented is a relational database combined with object-oriented conceptsas they are classes, inheritance and polymorphism. One of the main advantages of this is that it allows you to easily obtain the data through the polymorphismas well as being able to reuse the information more easily.

also allows store large amounts of information within classes. In addition, it offers many solutions of relational databases in the cloudwhat has become is a very good alternative for services found hosted in the cloud.

Examples of databases that you can copy for your company

Today there are many examples of this system which we can use to copy them in our companiesthis may help us to achieve results with very good yields.

Therefore, some of the examples we found are the following:

• personal files: They are those sets life writings of an author, researcher or intellectual which are stored in a file. This allows them to be consulted without being placed in risk the original writing or document.
• Telephone directories: They were known as the books that used to have a great number of phone numbers that were related to companies, private businesses, homes, hospitalsamong others, all this in order to offer users those services they needed. A somewhat uncomfortable database, but very complete.
• Transaction log: Other examples we found are the records of the calls made with the smartphone, the consumption of the credit or debit card or any other type of commercial transactionswhere each of them generate a set of records that will be sent to the database of the corresponding company.
• Medical history: In general, when you go to a doctor, he or she usually Create a registry for your patientsthis allows that in the future you can review patient file and know what treatment he has received and what type of diseases he has presented.
• public libraries: It can be said that this is one of the clearest examples that we can find, since here you will find thousands of records pertaining to each writer or book title, this will let you know if it is available or not. In addition, it allows know how many copies of the book exist and in this way take care that all are in operation.

What programs can I use to create databases?

Currently there is a large number of programs available on the web for the database creation. However, it is important that we use software that is safe and reliable, especially since it is a necessary tool for what it is the operation of a company or personal business.

Thanks to these programs it has become possible to access a large amount of information in a very simple way. Bearing this in mind, here we present the most reliable and secure programs that exist today and which you can start using.

Microsoft Access

One of the most popular programs today for creating these records in the Windows operating system. It gives you the possibility of Create a database where you will be able to organize and have at hand each of your information. Access highlights before the competition for its ease of use, where you can create charts and find the information you need in a few steps.

Among the main advantages offered by this software we find that it is aimed at those users who have little knowledge of what databases are, for this it offers Basic and easy-to-use tools. All this gives you the possibility create your own records without major complications.

SQL

SQL or Structured Query Language is software dedicated to what it is the data definition language allowing so manage and retrieve stored information within the systems relational database management.

These procedures are those that are responsible for joining some data stored in the different tables, while SQL handles administration more easily. In addition, it offers another function that is define the data, view definition and data manipulation languages.

This program can be used by both novice users as experts in the area of ​​​​programmers, where it offers tools that go from the most basic to the most advanced.

Visual Fox Pro

Other programs that we find available is Visual FoxPro, he himself has a feature set that have led it to position itself among one of the the most popular software for what it is creating information records. This is how it allows you to create all kinds of databases where you use the integration of other servers and SQL statements.

This program has been designed primarily for program designers who already have the basic tools so that they can make use of each of the attributes offered by this program. Therefore, the user will be able to program and customize your databases with all your fileswhether they are documents, videos, images, files among others.

mysql

To finish we present this program, which is designed for what it is open source and relational database management. Therefore, with him you can start to create data records and thus begin to have a larger organization with each of the information you handle within your company.

mysql stands out mainly for offering one of the the fastest speeds of all programs of this type, being able to support a large number of data types in each of the columns. In addition, it gives you the possibility of working with different platforms and operating systemsbeing very flexible, easy to configure and install.