Choosing A Database Model

In this section, the steps and considerations for selecting a suitable database are outlined and explained. These considerations have been developed by professionals through decades of research, implementation and first-hand experience. While they are not a fully set list of considerations, they are widely accepted as relevant and crucial to the developmental process. There are a number of important decisions that are needed when deciding on a suitable database.

1. Choosing the Database Model – Relational or Object etc.

2. Choosing the Database Genre/Size – E.g. Departmental, Personal, Organisational, Mobile etc.

3. Choosing the most suitable DBMS Software within that Genre

An example of this would be as follows.

1. The developer decides, using the information provided in the project requirements that the best Model suited to work with their proposed system is a Relational Database System

2. The developer decides, using the requirements specification that the database is to be Organization wide and thus represents a large database directed at this target group.

3. The developer then evaluates current technologies using a number of considerations and decides which software in the chosen Genre will be used. E.g. the developer may decide between Microsoft SQL server, Oracle or SQLite for an organisational wide relational database.

Each of these tasks present their own challenges, difficulties and sets of considerations that must be evaluated in depth in order to determine the best course of action for the current project. These challenges and decisions are explained as follows.

Choosing the Database Model

There are four main types of databases used today.

Hierarchical Model: These databases are one of the ol...

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(Last accessed 25 February 2014)

3. Bob Cravens “The Repository Pattern with Linq to Fluent NHibernate and MySQL” Available From: http://bobcravens.com/2010/06/the-repository-pattern-with-linq-to-fluent-nhibernate-and-mysql/ (Last Accessed 02 March 2014)

4. Robert Malone – Forbes “Structuring Unstructured Data” Available From http://www.forbes.com/2007/04/04/teradata-solution-software-biz-logistics-cx_rm_0405data.html (Last Accessed 26th February 2014)

5. Denish Patel- Software Development Times. “Choosing the right database: Understanding your options” Available From: http://sdt.bz/content/article.aspx?ArticleID=66407&page=1 (Last Accessed 02 March 2014)