Relational Database Model

A relational database model organizes data into tables that are related in some way.  These tables are also called relations.  Each relation has a group of named columns with any number of unnamed rows.  The columns match up with an attribute of the relation.  Attributes are characteristics of an entity that an organization is interested in.  The rows each match up with a record that contains data for the entity.  For example, an employee relation’s attributes could be their ID number, Name, Department, and Salary.  A well-structured relation has as little repetition as possible, and users can edit the relation without errors or inconsistencies.

            The pros of the relational database model are organization.  With the help of the relational database model, companies can easily access information that they need.  If a company’s database is well organized, they can look to the database in order to get the desired information.  The relations should be titled something so the company knows what is included in the relation.  In order for the company to be as productive as possible in their use of databases, these relations must be well structured, as was defined in the first paragraph of this blog.

            The cons of the relational database model are that some of the attributes of the relation could be left out.  This is because in order for this to be well structured, they want to have the least amount of columns as possible so that they can be compact.  These attributes that are left out could be telling of the record.  For example, the column that is left out could say something like “inactive”, but if no other records have anything in this column, then it will be left out.  There is no use in having one column just because of one record having something in the column. 

            Companies can use the relational database model to quickly find information that they need.  If a company knows what they need and they are knowledgeable about their database, then they can browse their data warehouse until they find what they need.  If a company is good at structuring their relations, then they will be very successful.  This technology is very good but it is also difficult to know what you are doing.  The ability to acknowledge the relationship between two different attributes is a very unique trait that takes a long time to develop, so in order for companies to benefit from this technology, they must be willing to invest a lot of time to research the effects of one attribute on another.