Business Intelligence & Data Management Flashcards
Data
Unprocessed raw facts, items that are the most elementary descriptions of things, events, activities, and transactions.
Information
Organized data that has meaning and value
Knowledge
Processed data or information that is applicable to a business decision problem
Structured data
Data that has structure, what you typically find in a database/sheet
Unstructured data
Data that has no structure, that is complex. Data that you find ‘in the wild’. E.g. images, sound, video, written text.
Data management
discipline that focuses on the proper generation, storage and retrieval of data
Database
A shared and integrated computer structure that stores a collection of end user data and metadata.
Database management System (DBMS)
Collection of programs that manages the DB structure and controls access to the database.
Single user database
Database that supports only one user at a time. E.g. desktop database
Multiuser database
Database that supports multiple users at a time. E.g. Workgroup database or enterprise database.
Centralized database
Database for which the data is stored at a single site.
Distributed database
Database for for the data is stores across several sites
Operational database
Also known as transactional or production database. A database that support an organization’s day to day operations
Data warehouse (description)
A system with the primary focus of storing data to be used to generate information to make tactical or strategic decisions.
Semi-structured data
Data that you have already prepared to some extent.
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
A special language used to represent and manipulate data elements in a textual format.
XML Database
Database that supports the storage and management of semi-structured XML data
Database design
Refers to the activities that focus on the design of a database. If done properly, it requires the designer to identify precisely the database’s expected use.
Data model
A simple representation of a more complex real world data structure.
Entity
Any physical or conceptual object about which data is to be collected or stored.
Attribute
Characteristics of an entity (e.g. weight, class, size, value, name)
Relationship
AKA Cardinality. The association between entities. Can be:
One to many (1, M)
Many to many (M, N)
One to one (1, 1)
Constraint
Restriction placed on an attribute in a database. E.g. Employee age must be between 16 and 99.
Table
Contains rows and columns . Is a persistent representation of logical relations.