WGU Data Management Foundations
g g g gg
Study Guide C175 g g
14% Lesson 1 Introduction to Databases, Information and Data (7
g g g g g g g g g
Questions)
g
Competencyg4017.1.1:gIntroductiongtogInformationgandgData
Explainghowgdata,gdatabases,gandgdatagmanagementgisgusedgingtoday'sgorganization
➢ Explaingwhatgdatagisgandghowgisgitgstored
➢ Explaingthegdifferentgtypesgofgdata
➢ Definegfilegstructures
➢ Explainghowgdatagwasgstoredgandgretrievedgbeforegthegusegofgdatabaseg
managementgsystems
1.1 WhygDatabases
• Bestgwaygtogstoregandgmanagegdata
• Makesgdatagpersistentgandgshareablegingagsecuregway
• EssentialgforgorganizationsgtogknowginformationgaboutgCustomers,gProducts,g
Employees,gDebtorsg/gCreditors
• Helpsgorganizationsgusegdatag/ginformationgasgagresourcegtogmakeg
decisions
1.2 FilegStructures
• File-Basedg(PriorgtogDBMS)
o Attemptgtogcomputerizegoldgmanualgfilinggsystem
o Wasgeasygtogretrievegsmallgamountsgofginformationgfrom
o Asgdataggrew,gitgbecamegdifficultgtoglocategandgretrieveginformation
o Retrievalgspeedgdependedgongfilegstructuregandghowgdatagwasg
organizedgwithingthegstructure
• Filegtypesgutilizedgingagfile-basedgsystem
o FlatgFiles
• Noginternalghierarchy
• PlaingtextgorgBinarygfiles
• Datagthatgisgunstructured
• Usesgaglotgofgcomputergmemorygtogaccess,gedit,gandgrewritegfilesg
afterguse
o HeapgFiles
• Unsortedgsetgofgrecords
• UniquelygidentifiedgbygrecordgID
1
, WGU Data Management Foundations
g g g gg
Study Guide C175 g g
o AllowsgHeapgfilegtogbeginsertedgorgdeletedgusinggID
o IndexgFiles
• FilegthatgstoresgaglistgofgLookgUpgFieldgvaluesgfromgdatagfileg
thatgincludesgtheglocationg(address)gingthegdatagfilegofgthegc
orrespondinggrecord
• Smallergthangthegentiregrecord,gusuallygfitsgingmaingmemorygforg
quickglookgup
• Listsgkeywordsgandgphrasesgthatgaregingagparticulargfile
• Becomesgagpointergtogtheglocationgingthegfilegwheregtheginf
ormationgcangbegfoundgwhengstoredgwithgkeywordsgandgph
rases
o HashedgFiles
• Usesghashgfunctionsgtogdecidegwheregrecordsgshouldgbegplacedg
ongagdisk
• Allowsgforgfastergdataglookgupgwithoutgthegusegofgangindexgfile
1.3 DatagversusgInformation
• Data
o DatagisgthegFoundationgofgInformation
o ConsistsgofgRawgFactsgnotgyetgprocessedgtogrevealgmeaning
o Rawgfactsg/gdatagwillgneedgtogbegtransformedgtogbettergunderstandgwhatgit
gisgthatgyoughave
o Mustgbegproperlygformattedgforgstorage,gprocessing,gandgpresentation
• Information
o InformationgisgthegBedrockgofgKnowledge
o ProducedgbygProcessinggRawgDatagtogrevealgitsgmeaning
2
, WGU Data Management Foundations
g g g gg
Study Guide C175g g
• Processinggmaygbegasgsimplegasgorganizinggitgtogrevealgpatternsg
orgcomplexgasgmakinggforecastg/gdrawingginferencesgusinggsyste
mgstatisticalgmodeling
o Keygtoggoodgdecisiongmakinggandgbusinessgsurvivalgisgaccurate,g
relevant,gandgtimelyginformation
• Knowledge
o Informationgandgfactsgaboutgagspecificgsubject
o ImpliesgfamiliaritygawarenessgandgunderstandinggofgInformation
o KeygCharacteristicgisgthatgNewgKnowledgegcangbegderivedgfromgOldg
Knowledge
• DatagManagement
o Agdisciplinegthatgfocusesgongthegproperggeneration,gstorage,gandgr
etrievalgofgdata
o Isgitgcoregactivitygforganygbusiness,ggovernmentgagency,gserviceg
organization,gorgcharity
1.4 IntroducinggthegDatabase
• Database
o Shared,gintegratedgcomputergstructuregthatgstores:
• EndgUsergData
o Rawgfactsgofginterestgtogthegendguser
• Metadatag(Alsogcalled:gAgcollectiongofgSelf-DescribinggData)
o Datagaboutgdatagthroughgwhichgdatagisgintegratedgandg
managed
o Describesgdatagcharacteristicsgandgsetgofgrelationshipsg
thatglinksgdatagfoundgingthegdatabase
o Storesginformationglike:
• Namegofgeachgdatagelement
• Typegofgvaluesg(numeric,gdates,gorgtext)gongeachg
datagelement
• Whethergthegdatagelementgcangbegleftgempty
o Complementsgandgexpandsgthegvaluegandgusegofgthegdata
• RolegofgthegDBMS
o Angintermediarygbetweengusergandgdatabase
o Presentsgthegendgusergwithgagsinglegintegratedgviewgofgdatagingag
database
o Receivesgallgapplicationgrequestsgandgtranslatesgthemgintog
complexgoperations
o Hidesgdatabasegcomplexitiesgfromgthegapplicationgprogramsgandgusers
o Providesgagframeworkgfacilitategdatagqualityginitiatives
3
, WGU Data Management Foundations
g g g gg
Study Guide C175 g g
o MaygbegwrittengusinggVisualgBasic,gNET,gJAVA,gC#,gorgthroughgagDBMSg
utilitygprogram
• AdvantagesgofgagDBMS
o Enablesgdatagsharinggacrossgmultiplegapplicationsg/gusers
o Integratesgdifferentgusergviewsgofgdatagintogagsinglegrepository
o Makesgdatagmanagementgmoregefficientgandgeffective
o ImprovesgDatagSharing
• Createsgangenvironmentgingwhichgusersghavegbettergaccessgtwog
moregandgbetter-managedgdata
o ImprovesgDatagSecurity
• Providesgframeworkgforgbettergenforcementgofgdatag/gsecurityg
policies
o BettergDatagIntegration
• Promotesgintegratedgviewgofgoperationsgandgthegabilitygtogseeg
datagrelationsgorgimpactgactionsghavegingothergareas
o MinimizesgDatagInconsistency
• DatagInconsistencygexistsgwhengdifferentgversionsgofgtheg
samegdatagappeargingdifferentgplaces
• Greatlygreducedgingagproperlygdesignedgdatabase
o ImprovesgDatagAccess
• Easiergtogproducegquickganswersgtogagqueryg/gadghocgquery
o Querygisgagspecificgrequestg/gquestion
o AdgHocgQuerygisgag“Spur-or-the-Moment”gquestion
o QuerygResultgSetgisgagcollectiongofgdatagrowsgreturnedgbyg
agquery
o ImprovesgDecisiongMaking
4
g g g gg
Study Guide C175 g g
14% Lesson 1 Introduction to Databases, Information and Data (7
g g g g g g g g g
Questions)
g
Competencyg4017.1.1:gIntroductiongtogInformationgandgData
Explainghowgdata,gdatabases,gandgdatagmanagementgisgusedgingtoday'sgorganization
➢ Explaingwhatgdatagisgandghowgisgitgstored
➢ Explaingthegdifferentgtypesgofgdata
➢ Definegfilegstructures
➢ Explainghowgdatagwasgstoredgandgretrievedgbeforegthegusegofgdatabaseg
managementgsystems
1.1 WhygDatabases
• Bestgwaygtogstoregandgmanagegdata
• Makesgdatagpersistentgandgshareablegingagsecuregway
• EssentialgforgorganizationsgtogknowginformationgaboutgCustomers,gProducts,g
Employees,gDebtorsg/gCreditors
• Helpsgorganizationsgusegdatag/ginformationgasgagresourcegtogmakeg
decisions
1.2 FilegStructures
• File-Basedg(PriorgtogDBMS)
o Attemptgtogcomputerizegoldgmanualgfilinggsystem
o Wasgeasygtogretrievegsmallgamountsgofginformationgfrom
o Asgdataggrew,gitgbecamegdifficultgtoglocategandgretrieveginformation
o Retrievalgspeedgdependedgongfilegstructuregandghowgdatagwasg
organizedgwithingthegstructure
• Filegtypesgutilizedgingagfile-basedgsystem
o FlatgFiles
• Noginternalghierarchy
• PlaingtextgorgBinarygfiles
• Datagthatgisgunstructured
• Usesgaglotgofgcomputergmemorygtogaccess,gedit,gandgrewritegfilesg
afterguse
o HeapgFiles
• Unsortedgsetgofgrecords
• UniquelygidentifiedgbygrecordgID
1
, WGU Data Management Foundations
g g g gg
Study Guide C175 g g
o AllowsgHeapgfilegtogbeginsertedgorgdeletedgusinggID
o IndexgFiles
• FilegthatgstoresgaglistgofgLookgUpgFieldgvaluesgfromgdatagfileg
thatgincludesgtheglocationg(address)gingthegdatagfilegofgthegc
orrespondinggrecord
• Smallergthangthegentiregrecord,gusuallygfitsgingmaingmemorygforg
quickglookgup
• Listsgkeywordsgandgphrasesgthatgaregingagparticulargfile
• Becomesgagpointergtogtheglocationgingthegfilegwheregtheginf
ormationgcangbegfoundgwhengstoredgwithgkeywordsgandgph
rases
o HashedgFiles
• Usesghashgfunctionsgtogdecidegwheregrecordsgshouldgbegplacedg
ongagdisk
• Allowsgforgfastergdataglookgupgwithoutgthegusegofgangindexgfile
1.3 DatagversusgInformation
• Data
o DatagisgthegFoundationgofgInformation
o ConsistsgofgRawgFactsgnotgyetgprocessedgtogrevealgmeaning
o Rawgfactsg/gdatagwillgneedgtogbegtransformedgtogbettergunderstandgwhatgit
gisgthatgyoughave
o Mustgbegproperlygformattedgforgstorage,gprocessing,gandgpresentation
• Information
o InformationgisgthegBedrockgofgKnowledge
o ProducedgbygProcessinggRawgDatagtogrevealgitsgmeaning
2
, WGU Data Management Foundations
g g g gg
Study Guide C175g g
• Processinggmaygbegasgsimplegasgorganizinggitgtogrevealgpatternsg
orgcomplexgasgmakinggforecastg/gdrawingginferencesgusinggsyste
mgstatisticalgmodeling
o Keygtoggoodgdecisiongmakinggandgbusinessgsurvivalgisgaccurate,g
relevant,gandgtimelyginformation
• Knowledge
o Informationgandgfactsgaboutgagspecificgsubject
o ImpliesgfamiliaritygawarenessgandgunderstandinggofgInformation
o KeygCharacteristicgisgthatgNewgKnowledgegcangbegderivedgfromgOldg
Knowledge
• DatagManagement
o Agdisciplinegthatgfocusesgongthegproperggeneration,gstorage,gandgr
etrievalgofgdata
o Isgitgcoregactivitygforganygbusiness,ggovernmentgagency,gserviceg
organization,gorgcharity
1.4 IntroducinggthegDatabase
• Database
o Shared,gintegratedgcomputergstructuregthatgstores:
• EndgUsergData
o Rawgfactsgofginterestgtogthegendguser
• Metadatag(Alsogcalled:gAgcollectiongofgSelf-DescribinggData)
o Datagaboutgdatagthroughgwhichgdatagisgintegratedgandg
managed
o Describesgdatagcharacteristicsgandgsetgofgrelationshipsg
thatglinksgdatagfoundgingthegdatabase
o Storesginformationglike:
• Namegofgeachgdatagelement
• Typegofgvaluesg(numeric,gdates,gorgtext)gongeachg
datagelement
• Whethergthegdatagelementgcangbegleftgempty
o Complementsgandgexpandsgthegvaluegandgusegofgthegdata
• RolegofgthegDBMS
o Angintermediarygbetweengusergandgdatabase
o Presentsgthegendgusergwithgagsinglegintegratedgviewgofgdatagingag
database
o Receivesgallgapplicationgrequestsgandgtranslatesgthemgintog
complexgoperations
o Hidesgdatabasegcomplexitiesgfromgthegapplicationgprogramsgandgusers
o Providesgagframeworkgfacilitategdatagqualityginitiatives
3
, WGU Data Management Foundations
g g g gg
Study Guide C175 g g
o MaygbegwrittengusinggVisualgBasic,gNET,gJAVA,gC#,gorgthroughgagDBMSg
utilitygprogram
• AdvantagesgofgagDBMS
o Enablesgdatagsharinggacrossgmultiplegapplicationsg/gusers
o Integratesgdifferentgusergviewsgofgdatagintogagsinglegrepository
o Makesgdatagmanagementgmoregefficientgandgeffective
o ImprovesgDatagSharing
• Createsgangenvironmentgingwhichgusersghavegbettergaccessgtwog
moregandgbetter-managedgdata
o ImprovesgDatagSecurity
• Providesgframeworkgforgbettergenforcementgofgdatag/gsecurityg
policies
o BettergDatagIntegration
• Promotesgintegratedgviewgofgoperationsgandgthegabilitygtogseeg
datagrelationsgorgimpactgactionsghavegingothergareas
o MinimizesgDatagInconsistency
• DatagInconsistencygexistsgwhengdifferentgversionsgofgtheg
samegdatagappeargingdifferentgplaces
• Greatlygreducedgingagproperlygdesignedgdatabase
o ImprovesgDatagAccess
• Easiergtogproducegquickganswersgtogagqueryg/gadghocgquery
o Querygisgagspecificgrequestg/gquestion
o AdgHocgQuerygisgag“Spur-or-the-Moment”gquestion
o QuerygResultgSetgisgagcollectiongofgdatagrowsgreturnedgbyg
agquery
o ImprovesgDecisiongMaking
4
