Unit 11: Behind the Scenes: Databases and Information Systems

Question 1

data warehouse

Answer 1

large-scale collection of data that contains and organizes in one place all the data form an organizations’ multiple databases

Question 2

3 sources for data warehouses

Answer 2

1. internal sources - sales, billing, inventory, and customer databases
2. external sources - vendors and suppliers
3. clickstream data - software used on company websites to capture info about each click user makes as they navigate through the site

Question 3

time-variant data?

Answer 3

data that doesn’t all pertain to one period of time

Question 4

data staging?

Answer 4

an intermediate storage area used for data processing during the ETL proecess

Question 5

ETL?

Answer 5

extract, transform, and load - the process fo formatting/cleansing data to enable data of different sources and types to comingle for analysis

Question 6

OLAP?

Answer 6

online analytical processing - software that provides standardized tools for viewing and manipulating data in a data warehouse

Question 7

data mart?

Answer 7

a related set of data that is grouped together and separated tout form the main body of data in the data warehouse

Question 8

data mining?

Answer 8

the process by which a great amount of data are analyzed and investigated

Question 9

Hadoop?

Answer 9

an open-source platform that makes complex unsaturated data easier to manage

Question 10

how Hadoop stores files and processes data

Answer 10

1. file storage - break data into chunks and is then distributed across many servers to be stored
2. data processing - uses MapReduce

Question 11

MapReduce?

Answer 11

sends code to each of the servers storing the data and uses multiple processors to process its set of data

Question 12

6 data-mining techniques

Answer 12

1. anomaly detection - identify outliers
2. association/affinity group - determines which data goes together
3. classification - defines data classes to spot trends
4. clustering - organize data into smaller subgroups
5. estimation/regression - assign value to data based on certain criteria
6. visualization - a visual representation of data

Question 13

information system?

Answer 13

a software-based solution used to gather and analyze data

Question 14

TPS?

Answer 14

transaction-processing system - an operational-level system that keeps track of everyday business transactions/activity

Question 15

real-time processing?

Answer 15

the database is updated while the transaction is taking place

Question 16

OLTP?

Answer 16

online transaction processing - ensure that the data in the TPS is current

Question 17

Batch processing?

Answer 17

transaction data is accumulated until a certain point is read then several transactions are processed at once

Question 18

What is the ACID test?

Answer 18

a test to ensure transactions are processed accurately

Question 19

ACID?

Answer 19

1. A - atomicity - all components of the transaction are treated as on or the transaction is not completed
2. C - consistency - at the end of a transaction a new piece of data is completed or the transaction remains incomplete
3. I - isolation - during process each transaction is tread separately from other transactions
4. D - durability - complete transactions are saved by TPS - cannot be undone

Question 20

MIS?

Answer 20

management information system - provides timely and accurate info that enable managers to make critical business decisions

Question 21

What types of reports are generated by MISs? (3)

Answer 21

1. detail report - list of transactions that occurred over a certain period of time
2. summary report - provides a consolidated picture of detailed data
3. exception report - shows conditions that are unusual or that need attention by the system users

Question 22

consolidation?

Answer 22

the act of unifying something

Question 23

DSS?

Answer 23

decision support system - type of business info system designed to help a manager develop solutions for specific problems

Question 24

model management system?

Answer 24

software that assists in building management models in a DSS

Question 25

BI?

Answer 25

business intelligence - the ability to improve business decision making with databases and other fact-based support systems

Question 26

business intelligence system?

Answer 26

a form of business info system that is used at the executive level

Question 27

ERP system?

Answer 27

enterprise resource planning system - a software system that accumulates all info relevant to running a business and makes it available to whom ever needs it

Question 28

knowledge-based system?

Answer 28

a system that provides intelligence that supplements the user’s own intellect

Question 29

expert system?

Answer 29

tries to replicate the decision making of a human expert in order to solve problems

Question 30

NLP system?

Answer 30

natural language processing system - enables users to communicate with computer systems using a natural spoken/written language instead of a programming language

Question 31

AI?

Answer 31

artificial intelligence - attempts to create computers that think like humans

Question 32

data redundancy?

Answer 32

Unnecessary duplication of data