Selecting a Database Management System
By Russ Finney
Databases provide a critical foundation for an organization's application portfolio. Listed below are some of the things which should be considered when selecting the DBMS which will be utilized for package implementations and application development:
Fourteen Point DBMS Selection Checklist:
- Data Dictionary/Catalog Approach
- Application Building Capabilities
- Ad-Hoc Retrieval Approach
- Data Views Support
- Data Type Support
- Data Access: Proprietary vs SQL
- Integrity Checking Approach
- CASE Tool Connectability
- Security
- Utilities
- Data Mass Load/Unload
- Data Compression
- Recovery/Backup
- Processing Speed
Relational Databases
One of the most powerful features of a relational database is that it has the power to return a complete result set in response to a single database query. This alone makes it the premier choice for utilization in a client/server environment. Instead of a high number of back and forth queries through the network followed by an equal number of responses, only one network message is needed to tell the database what is required. This is then followed by a contiguous response containing all of the required information. This means that a network utilizing a relational approach to data management, and the proper query language to take advantage of it, can experience dramatic performance improvements.
Currently the standard query language utilized to access relational databases is Structured Query Language (SQL). This is a powerful feature since it provides a common language between: developers, data base administrators, and ad-hoc business clients.
Copyright © 1999, Russ Finney, All Rights Reserved