Database Environment

Database Environment

Student: Karen Hope

DBM-380

December 10, 2011

Database Environment

Setting up database environments are extremely useful for companies to be able to track, retrieve, and store the necessary data needed for a business. A database environment is made up of five major parts which are hardware, software, people, data, and procedures (JKiNFOLINE, 2010). The hardware refers to all physical system devices such as computers, network components, and computer peripherals (JKiNFOLINE, 2010). The second major part, software, refers to the collection of programs that are used in the database system (JKiNFOLINE, 2010). This includes any application programs and utilities, the operating system, and database management system (DBMS) software (JKiNFOLINE, 2010). The people in the environment include all of the users that are associated with the database system itself; these include: Database Administrators, Data Modelers, System Administrators, and Programmers and End Users (JKiNFOLINE, 2010). The data refers to the basic entity in a database; it is the collection of all the stored data (JKiNOFLINE, 2010). Last, the procedures in the environment are the instructions and any business rules that were governed in the design or the use of the database system itself (JKiNFOLINE, 2010).

For the basis of this paper, an art museum will be used as an example for a business that needs a database environment set-up to track the artwork, artists, and locations of the where the art can be found within the museum. The initial step is to analyze the database environment to identify the data elements that will be needed to support the processing of data for the organization and categorizing it into logical groups or relations (Database eLearning, n.d.). That has been done above by showing the need to log artwork. It will be necessary to create a Database Analysis Life Cycle for further analysis of the future database environment (Database eLearning, n.d.). Figure 1 below shows the steps in the Database Analysis Life Cycle:

Figure 1: Database Analysis Life Cycle

A database study is a written specification for the database system that will be built and involves the following information:

 Analyze the Company's Situation- is it going to expand, mature in nature, a solid background, etc. (Database eLearning, n.d.)

 Define the Problems and Constraints- what is the company's current situation, how long will the company use the database to perform duties, are there any issues with the current methods used, and what will be the limits of the newly implemented system (Database eLearning, n.d.).

 Define Objectives- what will the new database system need to do and how will it be done, what