Importance of Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)

Discuss about the Database Designing Of The Complete System.

The report is showing the complete database designing of the complete system. Firstly the normalized database is created to understand the complete database. The ER diagram is showing all important entities and relationship between them.

The relational schema is converted from the ER diagram to clearly specify the primary keys, foreign keys etc.

After database designing, the database is implemented in the Microsoft Access database. All important queries, reports etc. are built into the database.

The database is very important in every business whether it is big or small. It is very difficult to store the database into the file system. The relational database is highly efficient in storing the data in a proper manner.

The relational database management system stores the data in a tabular format and each table is linked with another table to relate the data. The data can be searched easily within a very less time than the file system. It is very time saving technique. The important data that is required by the admin can be seen in the form of reports very easily at any time. 

That is why; the relational database management system is the best way to store the data in a very efficient manner.

There are so many problems in the file system that can be resolved by the relational database management system like below-

Problem in Searching

It is very difficult to search a specific employee detail in the file system e.g. to search about the employee, its department etc. If the department information is stored in separate file and employee information is stored in the separate file, then it is very difficult.

The relational database management system resolved this issue as separate table is created for employee and department and there is relational in between the tables. When the employee will be searched in the employee table, the related department can also be fetched very easily.

Time Consuming

Old File System is very time consuming. It takes so much time in searching an employee from the Employee file but in the relational database management system, this process can be found very easily.

Difficult to Manage

Old File System is very difficult to manage, if the database grows. All the records will be stored in a single file. This problem can be easily resolved in the relational database management system by making separate tables. The similar data will be stored in specific tables e.g. employee detail will be stored into the employee table; department data will be stored into the department table etc.

Challenges in File System

Cannot Implement Access Control

The admin can implement access control over specific data if needed in the relational database management system but this is not possible in the old file system. Sometimes there is some data that is important and required more security; in that case access control can be set on specific data for security reasons.

(Cinergix Pty Ltd. 2011)

Table	Field Name	Data Type	Keys
Employee	EmployeeID	Integer	Primary Key
	EmployeeName	Varchar
	Address	varchar
	Phone	Varchar
	Degree	Varchar
	Expertise	Varchar
Project	ProjectID	Integer	Primary Key
	Title	Varchar
	Description	Varchar
	Location	Varchar
	EstBudget	Currency
	DueDate	DateTime
EmployeeProject	EmployeeID	Integer	Primary Key References Employee (EmployeeID)
	ProjectID	Integer	Primary Key References Project (ProjectID)
ProjectActivity	ActivityID	Integer	Primary Key
	ProjectID	Integer	Primary Key References Project (ProjectID)
	Activity	Varchar
	Detail	Varchar
Material	MaterialID	Integer	Primary Key
	Material	Varchar
	Cost	Currency
	OrderDate	DateTime
	ExpDelDate	DateTime
	ActualDelDate	DateTime
	ActivityID	Integer	Primary Key References ProjectActivity (ActivityID)
Supplier	SupplierID	Integer	Primary Key
	SupplierName	Varchar
	Address	Varchar
	ABN	Varchar
	ContactPerson	Varchar
	PhoneNumber	Varchar
MaterialSupplier	MaterialID	Integer	Primary Key References Material (MaterialID)
	SupplierID	Integer	Primary Key References Supplier (SupplierID)

(Elmasri, Navathe. 2011)

(Paul Litwin. n.d.)

Following IT controls can be implemented for data integrity and availability-

• Data backup and recovery techniques
• Checkpoints for minimum data loss
• Database performance techniques
• Access controls
• Authorization
• Database standards
• Data integrity

Access control is the most important point for data security. It helps in restricting the database from unauthorized users.

Data integrity is also one of the major points to check the complete data in the database. There are two types of data integrity- Referential and Relational. Relational integrity test can be performed on the record or data level while the Referential integrity test can be performed on the relations between the tables.

There are so many ethical, privacy and security issues in the relational database management systems. Following ethical issues can be arise for the security of the database-

• The admin can check the emails of the employees to check that the company’s information is not going to be disclosed or leaked outside. It is most important point and it can be done without informing the employees.
• Read the files on the user’s computers without informing them.
• Place the key loggers on the network to check the tying materials of the employees.

All the above ethical issues are legal as the administrator has right to check anything on the company’s database as everything is related to company. It is completely legal.

The administrator can make other security standards also-

The administrator can limit the features on the user’s machine for the security of the company’s database

The administrator can block some features that are not useful for all users and can impact on the security standards. These selected features can be clocked for some users and can be unblocked for other users. It is the best practise to secure the database from unauthorized users.

Ensure the protection of copyrights

The copyright protection is very important. The admin should notice on this area so that no one can use the copyright detail anywhere else except the company’s documents. The company can appoint one person or team to check these standards on regular basis. It is the most important task as it may down the company’s image also if any wrong user shares the company’s detail for illegal work.

Limit the access of the database

Complete database is not required for every user. It is important many times to restrict the data from some users. Some portion of the database can be restricted from some users for the security concern. The same data portion can be used by other users that have right to access that database. This can be done by applying the access control technique.

Conversion of ER Diagram to Relational Schema

Protect the important data of the users e.g. card details

It is very important to protect the user’s data that is given by users e.g. user’s personnel detail, user’s card details etc. every user who come on our site have faith that his detail will not be shared or leaked to anywhere. Therefore, there should be proper technique applied on this portion in the database. The user’s detail should be protected carefully. It should not be visible to anyone.

Encrypt the card details and then store into the database

The important detail of the users should be stored into the database in the encrypted form. The important detail can be encrypted before storing into the database and can be decrypted while displaying to the users. It is the best practise to secure the important data. The card detail, user’s password etc. can be stored in the same way.

Protect stakeholder’s detail.

Stakeholders are very important persons for every business. Their details should be protected from the malicious users. The detail of the stakeholders can also be stored into the encrypted form.

Use Antivirus

There are more viruses in the market that can damage the company’s data or leak important information. To secure the database from these malicious programs, the company should buy important anti viruses to protect the data. It is very important because if the important information gets leaked outside, no one will trust on the company and the image of the company will also suffer. Therefore, every organization should work on it and should follow the basic security standards.

Sometimes hackers hack the detail and get the company’s detail and may get important offers of the company. There are so many cases of this now a day. To escape from these types of incidents, every organization should take good antivirus systems to protect the company’s information.

All the above mentioned security standards may be very helpful to secure the company’s important data. If all the above standards may be applied, no one can hack the database and important detail will not be leaved outside. It may reduce the risks in the business. The company will grow fast if the security standards are high in the company. It is the basic need to increase the business. Without proper security techniques no one can grow in the IT.

References

Paul Litwin. (n.d.). Fundamentals of Relational Database Design. Retrieved from https://www.deeptraining.com/litwin/dbdesign/FundamentalsOfRelationalDatabaseDesign.aspx

Elmasri, Navathe. Fundamental of Database Systems Sixth Edition. 2011

Cinergix Pty Ltd. (2011). Ultimate Guide to ER Diagrams. Retrieved from  https://creately.com/blog/diagrams/er-diagrams-tutorial/

UKEssays. (2018). Database Management: Law, Ethics and Security. Retrieved from

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/computer-science/database-management-law-ethics-9552.php