Database Architecture

An article by Jorge Reis    Comments Off

Every structure needs to be built for soundness and efficiency, which is why we hire professional architects to design the building. Without an architect, the structures would be disorganized, unstable, and inefficient. This principle holds true with our databases, which are structures in their own right, structures of data. Database architecture describes exactly how data flows in a system – its storage, its groups, its qualities, and all its other aspects, and it keeps the data in such a way that retrieval will always be easy and quick. It also describes the data’s nature and its structure. Database architecture describes exactly how the different aspects of a database relate to each other and how they are organized.

How Does It Work?

Different people design how their database is organized in different ways. Some people might want to make one large database which contains everything they need, or they might want to create several databases which are grouped according to their function. To make this concept more understandable, let me give you an example. Let’s say that one manufacturing company is making its database. For clarity, it could choose to keep their databases separate, or it could have one database for its products and another database for its employees or its payroll. And how these two are integrated into the company’s system is what database architecture is all about. It describes all the components or the objects in the database and how they relate to each other and also how they are organized. If the components are properly organized, then data retrieval will be very easy to facilitate. So, if the database architecture is good and properly structured, then everything will run smoothly.

The common types of database architecture include Object-oriented, hierarchical, relational, and networked. However, most people are content to use flat file, especially if the operations involved are not too complex and if the volume of the data being stored is just small. Those who are not experts in matters of databases will also be more comfortable using flat files. But flat files do have their disadvantages. When the operations that will be performed in the database are complex, simple database architectures won’t work well. This is when one must hire a professional database architect.

Database Architects

Basically, people hire a database architect to design the database, much like how a person hires a typical architect to design a building. They’re very popular these days, and quite a lot of them make a living out of designing the structure of databases. Database architects build the diagrams for the relationship of the data stored in your database. They design the program in such a way that adding new tables would be easily facilitated. Much like how an actual architect takes care of a building’s safety, database architects are the ones in charge of debugging the model, so that when it is put into actual use, there won’t be any glitches.

The problem with database architecture is that one design doesn’t fit all your problems. Usually, people need to create a new design that fit their needs specifically.