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Advantages of a Relational Database

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Advantages of a Relational database
Relational databases are the standard when creating industrial standard efficient and scalable databases.
They are based on a structure of tables which are logically connected to each other and can be queried in complex way to extract relevant and meaningful information. The querying of a relational database is done using a high level language called SQL which stands for structured query language. SQL is very easy to understand and unlike traditional programming languages does not rely on arcane syntax, rather structured query language uses English like meaningful syntax in its operations.
As opposed to flat file databases this logical organization of data across tables in the form of columns greatly simplifies the organization and retrieval of highly complex data. As the business needs of the client rises so will the size and complexity of data, on of the biggest advantages of relational databases is the scalability associated with them, so as the company grows expanding the database will not be a problem and making sense of the data and extracting meaningful information from it will only get slightly harder.
Relational databases come with a plethora of security options and views can be enforced to ensure that unauthorized access to the sensitive information in the database is not allowed.
Relational databases also avoid redundancy of information and such databases can be highly optimized by methods such as normalization and good database design to ensure lighting fast data storage and access.
There are relational databases catering to all consumer segments, for example the client can choose to go the open source way and use MySQL database for its operations or use Enterprise grade database software such as Oracle or IBM DB2 for its operations.
Use of an Entity Relation Model in Business process modeling
Entity relational diagrams are used while designing the database to illustrate the logical structure off the database.
Before we can start coding the SQL to make the tables in a relational database the typical workflow of the business needs to be carefully analyzed and an entity relationship diagram needs to be constructed to show the relationship between the various entities in the business model and how they interact with each other.
Drawing out a good ERD is a must for every database design process as it is perhaps the most important step in creating scalable and optimized database which accurately models the business needs of the organization.

An ER diagram consists for the following -
Entity-An entity is the object or concept which acts as the main actor which relates to other entities in some way relating to the business process of the organization or application.
Usually whenever converting a business process to ERD , nouns are treated as entities.

Attribute-An attribute is the property of an entity, it is the adjective relating to the noun.
An attribute can be a key attribute which a unique characteristic of the entity .For example in a banking application a customer's account number can be the key attribute of the entity.

Cardinality-The cardinality of an entity shows how many instances of an entity relate to an instance of another entity.
Reference:
Gonzalez, R. (n.d.). Relational Database Advantages - Enterprise Semantics Blog - Cambridge Semantics. Data Management - Cambridge Semantics - Cambridge Semantics. Retrieved June 8, 2012, from http://www.cambridgesemantics.com/blog/-/blogs/relational-database-advantages
Kedem, Z. (n.d.). Entity/Relationship and Relational Models. Entity Relationship and relation model. Retrieved June 8, 2012, from http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/dept_info/course_home_pages/spr97/V22.0444/unit02/ppframe.htm
Sauter. (n.d.). Entity Relationship Diagrams. University of Missouri-St. Louis. Retrieved June 8, 2012, from http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/er/er_intro.html
Thomas, J. (n.d.). What Are the Advantages of Relational Databases? - Life123. Articles and Answers about Life - Life123. Retrieved June 8, 2012, from http://www.life123.com/technology/computer-software/database-software/advantages-of-relational-databases.shtml

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