03-10-2020, 02:22 AM
Databases can be so useful, nowadays even small organizations use them. Everywhere you look, there is a database: mailing lists, customer profiles,
Koop e-maildatabase en bouw organizing a wedding, routing toll free telephone calls all over the country... Some are small and simple. Some are immense and complex.
Each database runs in a database management system (DBMS). If you have dealt with computers long enough, you remember some of the earliest desktop DBMSs. Most of the early desktop DBMSs were shoved aside long ago by Microsoft Access™, although several are still available such as Paradox™, dBase™ and Alpha Five™. For larger databases, you are probably aware of MySQL™, IBM DB2™, Oracle™, Microsoft SQL Server™.
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In my consulting practice, I often encounter people who think those are the only DBMSs worth considering, and they are all just different flavors of the same thing. For more than a decade, I have been helping them past their confusion so they can choose a DBMS intelligently before they build a database. This short primer will give you a basic grounding. You may still need help to choose the right DBMS for your purposes, but at least you will be able to ask smart questions and get the answers you need.
Low-Priced Desktop Databases
Your dictionary may say a spreadsheet qualifies as a database. In the computing world, a spreadsheet does not even come close. Through special interfaces, you can use a spreadsheet as a handy, familiar way to look at a portion of the data in a database. But only one person at a time can open and make data changes in a spreadsheet.
If the data needs to be usable for a group of people and it is in a spreadsheet, eventually somebody will get frustrated about not being able to make changes. They will make a private copy of the file, put their changes into it, and replace the group spreadsheet with their version whenever they have a chance. That wipes out any changes made by someone else while the frustrated person was working in a private version. Valuable information is lost this way.
If more than one person needs to work with information, it does not belong in a spreadsheet. It belongs in a database. Even the cheapest, least capable DBMS will allow everyone to look at the data at the same time. When someone makes a change, only that small portion of the data-the equivalent of a row on a spreadsheet-is "locked" during the change to make sure two people do not make different changes to it at the same time. As soon as the change is finished, that "row" is "unlocked" and made available for other changes by anyone in the team.
However, the adage "you get what you pay for" is frequently just as true in computing as it is anywhere else. Desktop DBMSs do enough to satisfy modest goals. You may be able to start out with one of these. As your database grows larger or your needs become more sophisticated, expect to need to migrate to a more substantial DBMS.
As an example, let's say you run a small business with 5 employees. You have a few hundred customers. Their orders, your order fulfillment, and your administrative procedures are straightforward. A database in Microsoft Access can handle that with no problem.
Now let's say your business grows. By the time you hire employee number 50, you will probably either be migrating to another DBMS, or already be using another DBMS. Most desktop DBMSs in the low end of the price range are designed to work well with a few simultaneous users. They struggle as both the number of users and the amount of data grow. You might buy yourself a little time by putting your database on a more powerful computer, but ultimately a serious database needs a serious engine, just like a racecar needs a more serious engine than a commuter's car.
Koop e-maildatabase en bouw organizing a wedding, routing toll free telephone calls all over the country... Some are small and simple. Some are immense and complex.
Each database runs in a database management system (DBMS). If you have dealt with computers long enough, you remember some of the earliest desktop DBMSs. Most of the early desktop DBMSs were shoved aside long ago by Microsoft Access™, although several are still available such as Paradox™, dBase™ and Alpha Five™. For larger databases, you are probably aware of MySQL™, IBM DB2™, Oracle™, Microsoft SQL Server™.
In my consulting practice, I often encounter people who think those are the only DBMSs worth considering, and they are all just different flavors of the same thing. For more than a decade, I have been helping them past their confusion so they can choose a DBMS intelligently before they build a database. This short primer will give you a basic grounding. You may still need help to choose the right DBMS for your purposes, but at least you will be able to ask smart questions and get the answers you need.
Low-Priced Desktop Databases
Your dictionary may say a spreadsheet qualifies as a database. In the computing world, a spreadsheet does not even come close. Through special interfaces, you can use a spreadsheet as a handy, familiar way to look at a portion of the data in a database. But only one person at a time can open and make data changes in a spreadsheet.
If the data needs to be usable for a group of people and it is in a spreadsheet, eventually somebody will get frustrated about not being able to make changes. They will make a private copy of the file, put their changes into it, and replace the group spreadsheet with their version whenever they have a chance. That wipes out any changes made by someone else while the frustrated person was working in a private version. Valuable information is lost this way.
If more than one person needs to work with information, it does not belong in a spreadsheet. It belongs in a database. Even the cheapest, least capable DBMS will allow everyone to look at the data at the same time. When someone makes a change, only that small portion of the data-the equivalent of a row on a spreadsheet-is "locked" during the change to make sure two people do not make different changes to it at the same time. As soon as the change is finished, that "row" is "unlocked" and made available for other changes by anyone in the team.
However, the adage "you get what you pay for" is frequently just as true in computing as it is anywhere else. Desktop DBMSs do enough to satisfy modest goals. You may be able to start out with one of these. As your database grows larger or your needs become more sophisticated, expect to need to migrate to a more substantial DBMS.
As an example, let's say you run a small business with 5 employees. You have a few hundred customers. Their orders, your order fulfillment, and your administrative procedures are straightforward. A database in Microsoft Access can handle that with no problem.
Now let's say your business grows. By the time you hire employee number 50, you will probably either be migrating to another DBMS, or already be using another DBMS. Most desktop DBMSs in the low end of the price range are designed to work well with a few simultaneous users. They struggle as both the number of users and the amount of data grow. You might buy yourself a little time by putting your database on a more powerful computer, but ultimately a serious database needs a serious engine, just like a racecar needs a more serious engine than a commuter's car.