Week 7- Database and Data Warehouse

1. List, describe, and provide an example of each of the five characteristics of high quality information.


Accuracy: Information needs to be accurate and high quality. High accuracy will allow organisations to meet their goals. E.g: Excel spreadsheets designed to report monthly sales figures for a clothes store.
Completeness: Gives a big part of the picture of the information being reported. E.g: Total sales figures of a shoe store for the whole year.
Consistency: It is important to keep information reported consistant, to keep all added information on the same level as what was previously reported. E.g: When adding a telephone no. in the field, the field wont accept more than a 10 digit number to reduce inaccuracy.
Uniqueness: In order to add value to an organisation, information must be unique and distinctive. E.g:Is the information available on other sites?
Timeliness: New and current data is more valuable to an organisation than old and outdated information. It is important to keep up to date with information, as the era is more competitive. Eg: Real time information.


2. Define the relationship between a database and a database management system.

Database: A collection of organised information that allows data to be manipulated or extracted to suit the reporting needs.
Database management system: A set of programs used for managing the database. It facilitates the creation and maintenance and use of an electronic database.


3. Describe the advantages an organisation can gain by using a database.

Increased flexibility:
- Handles changes quickly and easily.
- Provides users with different views.
Increased scalability and performance
-scalability: How well a system can adapt to increased demands.
-Performance: measures how quicky a system performs a certain process or transaction.
Increased information integrity (quality)
Assurance that the information has not been changed or altered since the last time accessed.
Increased information security
- Information must be protected as it is an organisational asset. This is controlled through passwords and access controls.

An example of a database is MySQL is below

http://sync-database-mysql-edition.smartcode.com/screenshot.html

4. Define the fundamental concepts of the relational database model.

A database system in which any database file can be part of more than one of the database's tables.


5. Describe the benefits of a data-driven website.

Development- Allows owner to make changes to website at anytime-> user friendly.
Content Management- A static website required a programmer to make updates. This can lead to misunderstandings to desired changes.
Future Expandability- Allows the site to grow faster allowing changes to be easily updated.


6. Describe the roles and purposes of data warehouses and data marts in an organisation

Roles-

Data Warehouses
A logical gathering of information from different databases supporting business analysis and decision making.
Data Marts
Contains a subset (a set of numbers who are part of another set) of data warehouse information.

Purposes-
Data Warehouses
To aggregate information through the organisation into a single location of storage, so employees can make decsions and undertake business activities. Therefore the information stored to support decision making processes.

Below is an image showing an example of data warehouse

http://ecommercecenter.net/management/what-is-a-data-warehouse.html

Data Mart
Focuses on informational subsets depending on the needs of a business unit such as finance or production.

Below is an image showing the components that make up a data mart

http://www.qedfinancialsystems.com/Products/datamart.htm

Week 6 - Chapter 5 Architectures

1. What is information architecture and what is information infrastructure and how do they differ and how do they relate to each other?

Information architecture: Consists of how to store files and where.
Information infrastructure: Consists of how the architecture works. How reliable and flexible it is, is important.
Differ-
Architecture: Is how the system will be used in the organisation. It includes all the systems and file paths involved in storing files.
Infrastructure: The way in which the files are stored and ensures that is runs well.
Relate-
Architecture relies on infrastructure as infrastructure ensures works behind the scenes to ensure that the files are stored properly and that the system is working well and is up to date with minimum error.

Below shows a link of how different infromation architecture looks like
http://www.prescientdigital.com/articles/strategic-design/design-ii-structure-comes-before-design

Below is an image showing how an information infrastucture on a national scale looks like

http://www.ibiblio.org/nii/

2. Describe how an organisation can implement solid information architecture
List and describe the five requirement characteristics of infrastructure architecture.

Implement solid information architecture-
By creating a blog site which enables employees and employers to create and distribute information within and amongst different sections of the organisation. This will be an easy and less time effective way to send messages and updates around the organisation.
Five requirement characteristics-
1. Flexibility – must meet all types of business changes. It is designed to include the ability to handle multiple currencies and languages, even if the company is not yet operating overseas.
2. Scalability – is how well a system can adjust to increased demands. Capacity planning determines the future IT infrastructure necessities for new equipment and additional network capacity.
3. Reliability – ensures all systems are functioning correctly and providing accurate information.
4. Availability – addresses when systems can be accessed by employees and customers. High availability refers to a system or component that is continuously operational for a desirably long length of time.
5. Performance – measures how quickly a system performs a certain process or transaction in terms of efficiency IT metrics of both speed and throughput.


3. Describe the business value in deploying service oriented architecture

A SOA will allow organisations to become integrated with other businesses which makes working together easier. It also ensures that IT systems can adapt quickly and rapidly to support business needs. Using Meta data, they can re use systems many times which makes development cheaper and flexible.


4. What is an event?

It is an event example which the flow of program is determined by events such as sensor outputs, the amounts of clicks per page or messages etc.


5. What is a service?

A service cab be a business task, such as checking a potential customer's credit rating. They are similar to software products.


6. What emerging technologies can companies use to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively?
-Virtualisation- enables division of recourses of a computer into different environments.
-Loose Coupling- services joined together on demand to create complex services.
-Grid computing- collection of dispersed computing, storage and network resources, used to improve quality of service.

Below is an example of a virtualisation desktop using Mac

http://mac.sillydog.org/archives/001212.php

Below is an image of how grid computing works

http://communication.howstuffworks.com/grid-computing.htm/printable