THE DATA LIFECYCLE
Data has a lifecycle, and to manage data assets, organizations manage the data lifecycle. Data is created or acquired, stored and maintained, used and finally destroyed. In the course of it's life, data can be extracted, exported, imported, migrated, validated, edited, updated, cleansed, transformed, converted, integrated, segregated, aggregated, referenced, reviewed, reported, analyzed, mined, backed up, recovered, archived, and retrieved before finally being deleted.
Data only has sense when it is actually used, or can be useful in the nearest future. All data lifecycle procedures are associated with costs and risk, but only the use stage adds business value. When effectively managed; the data lifecycle begins even before data acquisition, with enterprise planning for data, specification of data, and enablement of data capture, delivery, storage and controls.
DATA ELEMENTS
The data that are entered into a computer for processing must be carefully planned. They are usually organized In a hierarchy manner from the smallest data elements,called a character, to the largest aggregate form, called a database.
Characters
A character is a letter, number, or a special symbols such as #,$,& or. It is the smallest unit of a file. It dies not convey meaning except when one or more related characters are combined together to constitute a field.
Fields
A field is a collection for related characters. In other words, a field is a group of consecutive columns or positions reserved for a specific kind of data. Fields are commonly given a name. Most database systems recognize the different types of fields. If the fields contains only letters, it is called an alphabetic fields. If the fields contains letters, numbers and special characters, then it is said to be an alphanumeric fields. But if the field contains only Numbers, it's called a numeric fields.
Records
A record is a collection of related Fields. In other words, a record is a unit of grouped data within a file that contains Information of a specific nature.
Files
A file is a collection of related records. It is a major grouping of data containing information of a specific nature. Example taken, a file if medical records, a personal data files, an inventory files, etc.
Database
Organization capture and stores data in databases; an electronic collections of related data that can be accessed by various people in the organization. Database is at the top of the data hierarchy. It is a collection of all the data stored in one or several files with minimum redundancy. In other words, we can define database as a computerized record keeping system, which could be shared or used for multiple purposes.
Database offers the following capacities:
• It provides immediate and quick access to all data in the system
• It provides easy and expressive user interface
• It provides flexibility amongst users in terms of sharing of data.
In addition to these capacities, a database must also provide means for:
• Inserting new data to the database
• Retrieving new data from the database
• Updating data in the database
• Deleting data from the database
DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ( DBMS)
A database management system is a suite of programs that manages all access to the database. DBMS serves as an interface between the user and database. A DBMS consists of software that operates database, providing storage, access, security, backup and other facilities. DBMS can be classified with respect to the database model that they support, s relational or XML, the type of computer they support, a server cluster or a mobile phone, the query Language (s) that access the database, SQL or Xquery.
Examples of some commonly used DBMS are MYSQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft Access, SQL server, FileMaker, Oracle, etc. Almost every database programs comes with an Open Database Connectivity ( ODBC ) driver that allows the database to integrate with other databases. DBMS has very important role in any type of web or Business application. It
Literally manages and organizes data insertion, deletion, update and retrieval.
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| Database Management Systems |
COMPONENTS OF A DATABASE SYSTEM
The following are considered components of a database system: Hardware, software, and users. We shall consider them in turn.
Hardware Components
The Hardware is made up of the secondary storage devices where the database is physically stored, together with other I/O devices such as disk drive, device controllers, I/O channels, etc.
Software Components
The DBMS are programs, which acts as interface between the physical database and the users of the system. All request from the users concerning access to the database are handled by the DBMS. The DBMS has facilities for creating files, inserting data, retrieving data, updating Files, etc. The DBMS prevents the database users from contending with hardware level details.
USERS
We shall look at users in three major categories. These includes the application Programmers, the end user, and the database administrator.
Application Programmer
Application programmer is charged with the responsibility of writing Application programs that use the database. In a larger system, am Application program often must be written in a conventional Programming Languages such as Pascal, FORTRAN, or Basic. Then whenever file is access needed, the appropriate request to the DBMS is done.
End - Users
The term ' end users ' is reserved for users who may access the database through Application programs or by means of on - line application programs either built - in or installation written provided as an integral part of the system for interactive purposes. An example is an interactive query Language processor that allows a user to issue high level instructions or statement to the DBMS.
Database Administrator (DBA)
The database administrator is a person or a team charged with the responsibility of centrally handling issues relating to the design and the use of the database. Infact, the DBA has overall control of the total system.
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