Information Storage and Performance

Question 1

What is a flat file?

Answer 1

A file having no internal hierarchy.

Question 2

What is a hashed file?

Answer 2

A file that has been encrypted for security purposes.

Question 3

What is a heap file?

Answer 3

A unsorted set of records

Question 4

What is the difference between data and information?

Answer 4

Data are facts or figures whereas information is the intelligence and knowledge derived from data.

Question 5

What is the difference between unstructured and structured data?

Answer 5

Structured data is Information with a high degree of organization (like rows and columns), whereas unstructured data does not have structure.

Question 6

What is a VDC?

Answer 6

Virtualized Data Center (information storage and other computing resources)

Question 7

What are four factors that have led to the growth of digital data?

Answer 7

1. Increase in computing capabilities
2. Lower cost to store data
3. Affordable and faster communication technologies
4. Proliferation of digital devices

Question 8

What makes unstructured data hard to use?

Answer 8

It cannot be easily stored in rows and columns, which makes it difficult to query and retrieve.

Question 9

What percentage of data is unstructured?

Answer 9

90% (estimated)

Question 10

Describe server-centric storage architecture and it’s main drawback.

Answer 10

Each server has a limited number of storage devices, and any administrative tasks, such as maintenance of the server or increasing storage capacity, might result in unavailability of information.

Question 11

Describe information-centric architecture and it’s main benefit.

Answer 11

Storage devices are managed centrally and independent of servers. More storage capacity can be added without impacting information availability.

Question 12

What are the 5 core elements of a data center?

Answer 12

1. Application (logic for computing operations)
2. DBMS (database management system)
3. Host or computer (platform that runs applications and databases)
4. Network (facilitates communication)
5. Storage (stores data persistently)

Question 13

In a data center, what is the role of the “Application”?

Answer 13

It provides the logic for computing operations.

Question 14

In a data center, what is the role of the Host or computer?

Answer 14

It is the platform that runs applications and databases.

Question 15

What are the 6 key characteristics of a data center?

Answer 15

Availability, Security, Scalability, Performance, Data Integrity, Capacity, and Manageability

Question 16

What are the 3 activities involved in managing a data center?

Answer 16

Monitoring, reporting, and provisioning

Question 17

What is provisioning?

Answer 17

A process of providing the hardware, software, and other resources required to run a data center (e.g. resources management to meet capacity, availability, performance, and security requirements)