Topic 8: Database Design
A well-designed database will provide users with accurate, timely and relevant information. It centralises data and reduces data redundancy and inconsistency as compared to traditional ways of organising data (Several master files by various departments in an organisation). We will focus on the recent developments of database design, notably cloud databases and open source databases.
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List of Interesting Database Design Tech News
1. Barcode Scanning for huge data
What this new method does is to label a specific set of the barcode according to the type of data headings such as “Salary”, “Education”. Simply by keying in the data one requires will allow access for the specific piece of information without having to search through the sea of documents in the cabinets. The barcode being assigned can also be used for easier tracking.
2. How Oracle’s Database Business Changes (And Doesn’t) In The Cloud
It talks about how besides having Oracle’s technical and market share is ahead of the three known giants- Amazon Web Services, Aurora and Redshift, Oracle’s cloud database (could infrastructure as a service) runs the database much faster, more reliably and at a significantly lower cost.
3. How to choose the right NoSQL database
Link: https://www.infoworld.com/article/3260184/nosql/how-to-choose-the-right-NoSQL-database.html
The article introduces what NoSQL databases are, how they are different from the traditional SQL databases and their importance today. Then, it talks about a few key factors we need to consider to choose the right product or cloud service. Next, the article also recommends some NoSQL databases for us to consider, as well as the key features and advantages for each of them.
4. Co-Developed with Accenture, SAP Releases its Predictive Analytics Application
SAP partnering with Accenture has developed an application edition of the SAP Predictive Analytics software to help enterprise create and manage predictive machine learning models for applications that run business activities. The application can independently manage the end to end lifecycle of predictive and machine learning models that can adapt automatically to changing business conditions.
5. Google launches Cloud Spanner, its new globally distributed relational database service
Link (Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=65&v=amcf6W2Xv6M
Google’s new Cloud Spanner centers around the idea of allowing developers to take all of the knowledge they built in writing SQL-based applications and allowing them to take that to a new database service that still uses the SQL syntax and offers ACID transactions, but also offers many of the advantages of modern NoSQL databases, combined with the kind of scalability and global network that Google itself needs to run its products.
6. Database Design: How Table Normalization Can Improve Performance
Link: http://www.drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/database-design-how-table-normalization/186701027
This database design article discusses how to prevent table fragmentation. By using continuously re-evolving entity pattern, an almost indefinite number of features, including events, conditions, services, process status and relationship details will be included. Large text comments or dates can be included in the spreadsheets. Normalization, on the other way, can ensure the updates are rarely performed.
7. Data leak prevention: Mistakes in database design, business processes
The article has identified several mistakes in database design that allow data leakage to occur. They include SQL injection attacks, data inference methods and database index timing attacks.
8. Why your next database will be open source
Link: https://www.infoworld.com/article/2928610/database/why-your-next-database-will-be-open-source.html
Open-source databases are rising in popularity as the technology is getting more mature and important in the industry. With open source databases, users will be able to get greater access to information and higher flexibility in putting the database to good use.
9. Drug regulator plans national database of pharma manufacturers
India’s drug regulatory body is creating a national database of pharmaceutical manufacturers and their medicines so that problems such as drug shortage and quality issues can be targeted more effectively. It is mandatory for manufacturers to regularly update details of their facilities and products and would maintain information such as the names, addresses, licenses of all manufacturers and so on.
10. Salesforce is using AI to democratize SQL so anyone can query databases in natural language
Salesforce is a cloud computing company and it is now using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to allow people without programming knowledge to interact with databases. In other words, people can type a database query in normal human languages and they will be able to get an answer to their query from a database. Salesforce achieved this technology by collecting information from Wikipedia and used this information to generate possible SQL queries, from which human questions were developed. The data set of questions is currently the largest of its kind.
11. The Database Technologies of the Future
Link: http://www.dbta.com/BigDataQuarterly/Articles/The-Database-Technologies-of-the-Future-109659.aspx
This article highlights a vision for a converged database, such that an ideal database architecture would support multiple data models, languages, processing paradigms and storage formats within the one system. Nevertheless, the emergence of disruptive database technologies is expected, just like those which have occurred in the last decade. Furthermore, three computing technology trends which extend beyond database architecture and which may impinge heavily on the databases of the future include universal memory, the blockchain, and quantum computing.
12. Database of farting cows
Link: https://www.futurity.org/cows-methane-emissions-1719282/
Dairy cows in different regions of the world, depending on their diets, their genetics, and their management systems, belch different amounts and intensities of methane. Having more robust and accurate models for predicting enteric methane emissions from livestock is important, Hristov points out because these emissions represent a significant portion of global greenhouse gases blamed for causing climate change.
13. The Importance of Database Design Reviews
Link: https://www.datavail.com/blog/the-importance-of-database-design-reviews/
The database design article highlights designing the database alone is not enough, the system still needs to go through tedious reviews. It is necessary to review the database and application code to ensure efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness of the system.
14. Quest gains momentum as the growth of DevOps, open source and hybrid database environments fuels adoption of modern database management solutions.
Quest Software is a global system management and security software, provider. On 29 March 2018, it announced that its business is gaining significant momentum in its database management business, seeing a 51% increase in daily active users of its database management tools. One of its most impressive toolkits has functionalities that include PSL/SQL unit testing, static code reviews, database, schema and data compare, helping their customers maintain performance, quality and reliability. This is in line with the fact that businesses in the world are anticipating to manage increasingly heterogeneous, hybrid database environments to power their core business applications.
15. How to create a database on your Android device with PortoDB
Link: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-create-a-database-on-your-android-device-with-portodb/
This article is a walkthrough of the creation of a simple database on Android devices with the above application PortoDB.
16. Will AI eliminate the need for data models?
Link: https://tdwi.org/articles/2018/03/26/ba-all-who-needs-a-data-model.aspx
This article talks about how important data models are and the evolution of data models over the years. It also states that instead of eliminating the need for data models, AI can help automate the process of database designing. Data models are essential for many businesses and would not be eliminated.
17. What is a graph database? A better way to store connected data?
Unlike the traditional relational or SQL database in which relationships are implemented with foreign keys and queried by joining tables. Graph database stores the relationships along with the data, as related nodes are physically linked in the database. This allows graph database to work best when the data is highly connected or when it contains “many-to-many” relationships between entities (E.g. Social Media). Moreover, it can also find patterns of connection within the graph data to detect an abnormality in the case of Fraud detection system.
18. 5 Top Cloud Databases that Works Wonders
Link: https://hackernoon.com/5-top-cloud-databases-that-works-wonders-7e628810e3ac
This article briefly explains the benefits of Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) and states 5 DBaaS along with some features and strengths of each DBaaS. The services mentioned are provided by Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Oracle.
19. Difference Between DBMS and RDBMS
Link: https://techdifferences.com/difference-between-dbms-and-rdbms.html
This article explains the differences between Database Management System (DBMS) and Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). One of the differentiating factors is that Structured Query Language (SQL) is used to access RDBMS so as to avoid data redundancy.
20. Database security issues shadow distributed data architectures
The article talks about how and why expanded data architectures are expanding the security challenges faced by data management teams as well as the steps required to avoid database security issues.
21. SQL is 43 years old – here are 8 reasons we still use it today
Link: http://blog.sqlizer.io/posts/sql-43/
The article discusses why the SQL, the most widely used database query language, is still in use today 43 years from its creation. This is despite the fact that the various new languages that have been created that have claimed to be better and smarter than SQL.
22. Get The Basics On NoSQL Databases: Wide Column Store Databases
Wide column stores databases are database management systems that organise related facts into columns. Groups of these columns, called “column families”, have content and function similar to tables in relational databases. A wide column store database is superior to a relational database as one single column in a wide column store database can include information that would take up many rows in a conventional relational database. Wide column store databases are useful in managing large amounts of data that has to be stored on multiple computers. Column-oriented databases can reduce query time by reducing the amount of data traversed to find the information required. However, whether the advantage can be harnessed depend on the type of query.
23. Spreadsheet-style tool could democratize database design – With a new tool, any competent spreadsheet user can construct custom database interfaces
Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160711151055.htm
This article mentions how software’s can make databases much easier for lay people to work with. The program’s home screen looks like a spreadsheet. However, it lets users build their own database queries and reports by combining functions familiar to any spreadsheet user.
24. If You Want to Stop Big Data Breaches, Start With Databases
Link: https://www.wired.com/2017/03/want-stop-big-data-breaches-start-databases/
Over the past few years, large-scale data breaches have become so common that even tens of millions of records leaking feels unremarkable. While companies commonly use these databases to store tempting troves of customer and financial data, they often do so with outdated and weak default security configurations.
25. 3 Essential DBA Career Priorities For 2018
Many database administrators (DBAs) will go into 2018 wondering if “self-driving” databases (introduced by Oracle in October 2017) will weaken their career prospects. The self-driving database has the ability to automatically and continuously patch, tune, back up and upgrade itself without manual intervention, all while the system is running. Similar to the crunch of human labour due to automation technologies, it is no different for database managers. Therefore, they have to continually upgrade themselves and stay ahead of the developing trends before they become a thing of the past.
26. Cookies and how they construct databases for companies today
Link: http://work.chron.com/benefits-using-database-3792.html
Link (Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I01XMRo2ESg
This database design article shares how companies use a website to obtain massive amounts of data and would store them in their own systems. With such information, companies can build databases more rapidly with the information streaming into the company’s system.
27. Why University Networks Are So Tempting to Foreign Hackers
Link: https://slate.com/technology/2018/03/why-foreign-hackers-target-university-networks.html
Iranians were apprehended for stealing information from databases through email phishing and infiltration. They mainly targeted databases belonging to universities in the US, obtaining access to journals, research papers and textbooks. University networks are vulnerable as the very design that was made for individuals within the campus to share and collaborate, also allowed hackers to gain unauthorised access. The abovementioned hackers would then sell the information such as account credentials to students that desire this information.
28. I downloaded the information that Facebook has on me. Yikes!
Following the recent Facebook privacy scandal, people have endeavoured to download their own files in order to catch a glimpse of exactly what information Facebook has on them. While we are all aware of how ads and cookies are saved on our accounts, the truth is far more appalling. Facebook actually retains far more than we think. To name a few: your detailed contact list linked from Messenger, the obscure locations of every single time you logged into your account, and a record of all the users you unfriended. Not only that, but the Advertisement industry tapping on Facebook to market itself also holds your information hostage.
Want to find out what else Facebook knows about you? It is really creepy!
29. How DNA could store all the world’s data
Link: https://www.ft.com/content/45ea22b0-cec2-11e7-947e-f1ea5435bcc7
Researchers have recently managed to store, decode and playback music recordings on DNA, without any loss of quality. DNA storage is a serious prospect for the future as data grows big and will require huge spaces of storage. Using current data storage systems will result in huge servers. DNA can provide that huge amount of data storage in a small space. DNA storage involves translating the binary code which makes up digital data into the chemical rungs that form DNA spirals. A DNA strand will be built from the sequence and it is run through a sequencer to be decoded.
30. New job: Data Storytellers
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIMHicxQ0LY
For thousands of years, storytelling has been an integral part of our humanity. Modern-day storytelling is often associated with the popular TED talks series and its slogan of “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Analysis of the most popular 500 TED Talk presentations found that stories made up at least 65% of their content. Throughout time, storytelling has proven to be a powerful delivery mechanism for sharing insights and ideas in a way that is memorable, persuasive, and engaging. However, many of the heavily-recruited individuals with advanced degrees in economics, mathematics, or statistics struggle with communicating and telling the story of their numbers. They may believe the revealed insights alone should influence the right decisions and drive their audience to act.
31. CockroachDB 2.0 is here: It’s all about speed!
Link: https://jaxenter.com/cockroachdb-2-0-is-here-143103.html
This database design article talks about the upgrade of CockroachDB 1.0 to the second version. CockroachDB speeds up queries on giant volumes of data, eliminating the necessity to map out the types of requests that need to be processed in advance. One upgrade is that it is a lot faster in finding data.
32. An Indian State Is Building a Massive, Blockchain-Based DNA Database
Link: https://gizmodo.com/an-indian-state-is-building-a-massive-blockchain-based-1825182830
India’s eighth largest state is seeking to build a blockchain-based DNA database of all 50 million of its citizens. With it, the state’s government will be able to aid in the discovery of a person’s chances of cancer as well as even leading to cures for genetic disease. Joining the database will be optional, and researchers and governments will be allowed to buy or access anonymous raw genomic data stored on the blockchain in the cloud. Of course, with this comes all the security and privacy concerns that come with the storing of the Indian citizens’ private information, much like India’s massive, nationwide biometric data collection programs under scrutiny.
33. Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse Cloud launched for GA
In this database design article, the author discusses how the new Oracle platform is designed to supply an autonomous database that handles security, updates and repairing while minimizing the human hassle of administration. This new platform will be at half the cost of Amazon web services. The Oracle platform offers self-driving where it eliminates human error and human labour when doing the database. Also, it automatically upgrades and patches itself while running. It also includes self-securing where it protects from external attacks and malicious internal users.
