Lesson 7	Database and data management considerations
Objective	Describe considerations for database and data management.

Database Data Management System Considerations

What is a database/data management?

Here are a few considerations the e-Commerce architect should keep in mind when dealing with database/data management systems.

Architectural Commitment

Each organization carries different levels of commitment and preference for databases. For example, some companies are open to any relational database as long as it support SQL^[1]. Other organizations are vendor-committed (for example, you might hear a customer say, "We are an Oracle shop!"). The feature/function and performance differences between leading databases are slight. Therefore, it is usually wise to go with the organization's preferences, rather than to force-feed them a new database. Even though object databases may offer truly optimized designs for sophisticated e-Commerce solutions, buyer organizations may not be prepared for the paradigm shift required to support object-oriented databases.
As with programming tools, the potential efficiency gain of switching to new data management products should be weighed against the needs and desires of the buyer.

Availability of Expertise

A large community of experts exists for all of the major databases. This expertise is highly portable between each database subgroup. However, expertise is more rare with analytical databases, data warehousing, and business intelligence. Care should be taken to ensure that a resource pool of trained personnel is available to support the product.

Scalability

Certain data management solutions only run on certain operating systems. For example, Microsoft's SQL server only runs on Windows. Care should be taken to choose a database that can be easily ported^[2] to another operating system, if and when scalability requirements increase.

Third-party Extension Products

A large market of products has been built around core database and data management products. These third-party products provide: Avoid database/data management choices that lack these third-party support products.

Development tools

Most major development tools already work effectively with major database products. This interoperability occurs through ODBC^[3], JDBC or native interfaces.Make sure that any peripheral database/data management choice is supported by the development tool(s) of choice. Also be aware that many OLAP and business intelligence products include their own proprietary development tools. These tools add to the overall learning curve and integration challenges.

Architecture Engagement - Quiz

Verify your understanding of the concepts we have covered with a self-check quiz.
Architecture Engagement - Quiz

[1]Structured Query Language (SQL): The standard access language for relational databases.

[2]Ported: Move from one computer system to another.

[3]Open Data Base Connectivity (ODBC): Inserts a middle layer, better known as a database driver, making it possible to access any data from any application, regardless of which database management system handles the data. For this to occur, the application must be capable of issuing ODBC commands and the database management system must be capable of responding to them.
Java Database Connectivity (JDBC): Enables Java programs to interact with any SQL-compliant database and execute SQL statements. It is just like ODBC but is designed to work with Java. Native Interface: Typically possess higher performance than ODBC/JDBC. However, this type of interface is not portable between databases like ODBC/JDBC. OLAP: Another term for an Analytical Database. This type of database stores and maintains information objects and their relationships in a fashion that facilitates numerical analysis.
Interoperability: Ability of a system to use the parts or equipment of another system.