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Redundancy in Databases

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| Week 4 Assignment 4Kristi OrdIntroduction to Database Management SystemsProfessor Cheryl MayberryJuly 24, 2012 | | | | |

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A simple database is often a lot better for managing your data than a flat file system such as Microsoft Excel or Works. Microsoft Access is the ideal solution for most small to medium businesses to manage their data. Beyond Access there is Microsoft SQL Server for larger enterprise data applications. There are many advantages of using a database management system. A user interface can be designed with built in reports and queries to make use of the system more intuitive and easier to learn. The data is available to multiple users simultaneously for adding, editing and updating. Databases are a lot more efficient when dealing with large amounts of data particularly if the data is relational.
Data quality and integrity can be maintained through constraints and relationships reducing errors and duplication. Your data is highly available and can easily be queried and analyzed to gain better understanding of your business and customers. Access will export tables and queries to a multitude of formats should you want to work with your data in Excel or similar. ODBC databases such as Access are easier to integrate and link in with other data systems to allow cross system reporting and querying. Access databases can be scaled fairly easily to larger database solutions such as Microsoft SQL server if your data needs grow.
The flat file design puts all database information in one table, or list, with fields to represent all parameters. A flat file may contain many fields, often, with duplicate data that are prone to data corruption. If you decide to merge data between two flat files, you need to copy and paste relevant information from one file to the other. There is no automation between flat files. If you have two or more flat

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