DATA

MODELS
TOPIC OUTLINE

▰ Data Modeling and Data Models

▰ The Importance of Data Models
▰ Data Model Basic Building Blocks
▰ Business Rules
▰ The Evolution of Data Models
▰ Hierarchical and Network Models
▰ The Relational Model
▰ The Entity Relationship Model
TOPIC OUTLINE

▰ The Object-Oriented (OO) Model

▰ Emerging Data Models: Big Data and NoSQL
▰ Data Models: A Summary
▰ Degrees of Data Abstraction
▰ The External Model
▰ The Conceptual Model
▰ The Internal Model
▰ The Physical Model
1
Data Modeling and
Data Models
DATA MODELING AND DATA MODELS

▰ Data Modeling - the first step in designing a database,

refers to the process of creating a specific data model
for a determined problem domain.
▰ Data Model is a relatively simple representation,
usually graphical, of more complex real-world data
structures.
2
Importance of
Data Models
IMPORTANCE OF DATA MODELS

▰ Data models can facilitate interaction among the

designer, the applications programmer, and the end
user. A well-developed data model can even foster
improved understanding of the organization for which
the database design is developed. In short, data
models are a communication tool.
IMPORTANCE OF DATA MODELS

▰ Even different managers view data differently. For

example, a company president is likely to take a
universal view of the data because he or she must be
able to tie the company’s divisions to a common
(database) vision. A purchasing manager in the same
company is likely to have a more restricted view of the
data, as is the company’s inventory manager.
IMPORTANCE OF DATA MODELS

▰ In effect, each department manager works with a

subset of the company’s data. The inventory manager
is more concerned about inventory levels, while the
purchasing manager is more concerned about the cost
of items and about personal/business relationships
with the suppliers of those items.
IMPORTANCE OF DATA MODELS

▰ Applications programmers have yet another view of

data, being more concerned with data location,
formatting, and specific reporting requirements.
Basically, applications programmers translate
company policies and procedures from a variety of
sources into appropriate interfaces, reports, and query
screens.
2
Data Model Basic Building
Blocks
IMPORTANCE OF DATA MODELS

▰ Entity - is a person, place, thing, or event about which

data will be collected and stored.
▰ Attribute - is a characteristic of an entity
▰ Relationship - describes an association among
entities
TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS

▰ One-to-many
▰ Many-to-many
▰ One-to-one
3
Business Rules
BUSINESS RULES

▰ It is a brief, precise, and unambiguous description of a

policy, procedure, or principle within a specific
organization. In a sense, business rules are misnamed:
they apply to any organization, large or small—a
business, a government unit, a religious group, or a
research laboratory—that stores and uses data to
generate information.
BUSINESS RULES

▰ To be effective, business rules must be easy to

understand and widely disseminated, to ensure that
every person in the organization shares a common
interpretation of the rules. Business rules describe, in
simple language, the main and distinguishing
characteristics of the data as viewed by the company.
BUSINESS RULES

▰ The process of identifying and documenting business

rules is essential to database design for several
reasons:
▻ They help to standardize the company’s view of
data.
▻ They can be a communications tool between users
and designers.
BUSINESS RULES

▻ They allow the designer to understand the nature,

role, and scope of the data.
▻ They allow the designer to understand business
processes.
▻ They allow the designer to develop appropriate
relationship participation rules and constraints and
to create an accurate data model.
4
EVOLUTION OF DATA
MODELS
EVOLUTION OF DATA MODELS

▰ To be effective, business rules must be easy to

understand and widely disseminated, to ensure that
every person in the organization shares a common
interpretation of the rules. Business rules describe, in
simple language, the main and distinguishing
characteristics of the data as viewed by the company.
EVOLUTION OF DATA MODELS

▰ To be effective, business rules must be easy to

understand and widely disseminated, to ensure that
every person in the organization shares a common
interpretation of the rules. Business rules describe, in
simple language, the main and distinguishing
characteristics of the data as viewed by the company.
HIERARCHICAL MODEL

▰ Its basic logical structure is represented by an upside-

down tree. The hierarchical structure contains levels,
or segments. A segment is the equivalent of a file
system’s record type. Within the hierarchy, a higher
layer is perceived as the parent of the segment directly
beneath it, which is called the child.
NETWORK MODEL

▰ It was created to represent complex data relationships

more effectively than the hierarchical model, to
improve database performance, and to impose a
database standard.
NETWORK MODEL

▰ The network model allows a record to have more than

one parent. While the network database model is
generally not used today, the definitions of standard
database concepts that emerged with the network
model are still used by modern data models.
NETWORK MODEL

▰ Schema - is the conceptual organization of the entire

database as viewed by the database administrator.
▰ Subschema - defines the portion of the database
“seen” by the application programs that actually
produce the desired information from the data within
the database.
NETWORK MODEL

▰ Data Manipulation Language (DML) - defines the

environment in which data can be managed and is
used to work with the data in the database.
▰ Data Definition Language - enables the database
administrator to define the schema components.
5
RELATIONAL MODELS
RELATIONAL MODEL

▰ The relational model foundation is a mathematical concept

known as a relation. To avoid the complexity of abstract
mathematical theory, you can think of a relation (sometimes
called a table) as a matrix composed of intersecting rows and
columns. Each row in a relation is called a tuple. Each column
represents an attribute. The relational model also describes a
precise set of data manipulation constructs based on advanced
mathematical concepts.
RELATIONAL MODEL

▰ The relational data model is implemented through a

very sophisticated relational database management
system (RDBMS). The RDBMS performs the same
basic functions provided by the hierarchical and
network DBMS systems, in addition to a host of other
functions that make the relational data model easier to
understand and implement.
RELATIONAL MODEL

▰ The relational data model is implemented through a

very sophisticated relational database management
system (RDBMS). The RDBMS performs the same
basic functions provided by the hierarchical and
network DBMS systems, in addition to a host of other
functions that make the relational data model easier to
understand and implement.
RELATIONAL MODEL

▰ The relational data model is implemented through a

very sophisticated relational database management
system (RDBMS). The RDBMS performs the same
basic functions provided by the hierarchical and
network DBMS systems, in addition to a host of other
functions that make the relational data model easier to
understand and implement.
6
ENTITY RELATIONSHIP
MODEL
ENTITY RELATIONSHIP MODEL

▰ The conceptual simplicity of relational database

technology triggered the demand for RDBMSs. In turn,
the rapidly increasing requirements for transaction
and information created the need for more complex
database implementation structures, thus creating the
need for more effective database design tools.
ENTITY RELATIONSHIP MODEL

▰ Entity. An entity was defined as anything about which

data are to be collected and stored. An entity is
represented in the ERD by a rectangle, also known as
an entity box. The name of the entity, a noun, is written
in the center of the rectangle. The entity name is
generally written in capital letters and is written in the
singular form.
ENTITY RELATIONSHIP MODEL

▰ Relationships. Relationships describe associations

among data. Most relationships describe associations
between two entities. When the basic data model
components were introduced, three types of
relationships among data were illustrated: one-to-
many (1:M), many-to-many (M:N), and one-to-one
(1:1). The ER model uses the term connectivity to label
the relationship types.
ENTITY RELATIONSHIP MODEL

▰ Relationships. Relationships describe associations

among data. Most relationships describe associations
between two entities. When the basic data model
components were introduced, three types of
relationships among data were illustrated: one-to-
many (1:M), many-to-many (M:N), and one-to-one
(1:1). The ER model uses the term connectivity to label
the relationship types.
7
THE OBJECT-ORIENTED
MODEL
OBJECT-ORIENTED DATA MODEL

▰ Increasingly complex real-world problems

demonstrated a need for a data model that more
closely represented the real world. In the object-
oriented data model (OODM), both data and its
relationships are contained in a single structure known
as an object. In turn, the OODM is the basis for the
object-oriented database management system
(OODBMS).
OBJECT-ORIENTED DATA MODEL

▰ An object is an abstraction of a real-world entity.

▰ Attributes describe the properties of an object.
▰ Objects that share similar characteristics are grouped
in classes. A class is a collection of similar objects
with shared structure (attributes) and behavior
(methods).
OBJECT-ORIENTED DATA MODEL

▰ Classes are organized in a class hierarchy.

▰ Inheritance is the ability of an object within the class
hierarchy to inherit the attributes and methods of the
classes above it.
▰ Object-oriented data models are typically depicted
using Unified Modeling Language (UML) class
diagrams.
8
EMERGING DATA
MODELS
BIG DATA

▰ Big Data refers to a movement to find new and better

ways to manage large amounts of web and sensor-
generated data and derive business insight from it,
while simultaneously providing high performance and
scalability at a reasonable cost.
BIG DATA

▰ In order to create value from their previously unused

Big Data stores, companies are using new Big Data
technologies. These emerging technologies allow
organizations to process massive data stores of
multiple formats in cost-effective ways. Some of the
most frequently used Big Data technologies are
Hadoop, MapReduce, and NoSQL databases.
NoSQL DATABASES

▰ Every time you search for a product on Amazon, send

messages to friends in Facebook, watch a video on
YouTube, or search for directions in Google Maps, you
are using a NoSQL database.
▰ NoSQL databases are not based on the relational
model. In fact, there is no standard NoSQL data model.
NoSQL Databases
9
DEGREES OF
ABSTRACTION
NoSQL Databases

▰ Every time you search for a product on Amazon, send

messages to friends in Facebook, watch a video on
YouTube, or search for directions in Google Maps, you
are using a NoSQL database.
▰ NoSQL databases are not based on the relational
model. In fact, there is no standard NoSQL data model.
THE EXTERNAL MODEL

▰ The external model is the end users’ view of the data

environment. The term end users refers to people who
use the application programs to manipulate the data
and generate information. End users usually operate in
an environment in which an application has a specific
business unit focus.
THE EXTERNAL MODEL

▰ Companies are generally divided into several business

units, such as sales, finance, and marketing. Each
business unit is subject to specific constraints and
requirements, and each one uses a subset of the
overall data in the organization. Therefore, end users
within those business units view their data subsets as
separate from or external to other units within the
organization.
THE EXTERNAL MODEL

▰ Companies are generally divided into several business

units, such as sales, finance, and marketing. Each
business unit is subject to specific constraints and
requirements, and each one uses a subset of the
overall data in the organization. Therefore, end users
within those business units view their data subsets as
separate from or external to other units within the
organization.
THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL

▰ The conceptual model represents a global view of the

entire database by the entire organization. That is, the
conceptual model integrates all external views
(entities, relationships, constraints, and processes)
into a single global view of the data in the enterprise.
THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL

▰ Also known as a conceptual schema, it is the basis for

the identification and high-level description of the
main data objects (avoiding any database model-
specific details).
THE EXTERNAL MODEL

▰ Companies are generally divided into several business

units, such as sales, finance, and marketing. Each
business unit is subject to specific constraints and
requirements, and each one uses a subset of the
overall data in the organization. Therefore, end users
within those business units view their data subsets as
separate from or external to other units within the
organization.
THE INTERNAL MODEL

▰ The internal model is the representation of the

database as “seen” by the DBMS. In other words, the
internal model requires the designer to match the
conceptual model’s characteristics and constraints to
those of the selected implementation model. An
internal schema depicts a specific representation of an
internal model, using the database constructs
supported by the chosen database.
THE PHYSICAL MODEL

▰ The physical model operates at the lowest level of

abstraction, describing the way data is saved on
storage media such as magnetic, solid state, or optical
media. The physical model requires the definition of
both the physical storage devices and the (physical)
access methods required to reach the data within
those storage devices, making it both software and
hardware dependent.
THE PHYSICAL MODEL

▰ The storage structures used are dependent on the

software (the DBMS and the operating system) and on
the type of storage devices the computer can handle.
The precision required in the physical model’s
definition demands that database designers have a
detailed knowledge of the hardware and software used
to implement the database design.
REMINDER

▰ QUIZ NEXT LECTURE MEETING