HOW A DATABASE ALLOWS STORAGE, ACCESS ACROSS A RANGE OF CRITERIA

Database Storage Access Criteria

Database that allows storage, and allows access across a range of criteria

Digital assets are electronic files in a multitude of formats including graphics, photographic images, audio files, and video files. They are typically used as part of a corporate identity program or for product marketing. Many are associated with past events and have a historical value.

Organizations spend a lot of time and money creating these assets using graphic designers, photo shoots, or studios. And although the asset may be created for only one purpose, the organization may want to reuse it later. The time spent looking for these assets or the resources spent to re-create them are a significant part of the ROI for implementing a digital asset management system.

From a business perspective, the primary advantage that these systems provide over physical filing systems is the ease of storage and retrieval. Physical objects take up space, are difficult to retrieve (especially if remote), and cannot be reorganized according to new criteria without a great deal of effort. In addition, physical objects are usually spread among separate archives and are not sharable. (Baron, 2002, pp. 200-204)

Converting assets to a digital format and creating assets digitally in the first place provide several benefits, including ease of storage and distribution. However, to fully realize the benefits of digital assets, the assets must be managed properly. According to market research firm Gistics Inc. (www.gistics.com), Emeryville, CA, companies replace $300 billion worth of their digital assets because objects are lost, misplaced, or duplicated. In digital format, it is easier to reuse and re-purpose files, which may be copyrighted material, but it is also easier to lose these assets among other electronic files.

Data base

A database is a collection of related files. How those files relate together and to each other depend almost entirely on the model that is used. One early database model includes the hierarchical model (as in Information Management System [IMS] databases), where all files and all records are and have to be related in a parent-child manner, similar to a single-parent household where each child has at most one parent at any given time, but where each parent can have multiple children. (Baron, 2002, pp. 200-204) Another early model is the network model, with its files related as owners and members. This model resembles blended and extended families, where each owner (or each parent) can have multiple children (members) and each child can have multiple parents.

Then there is the relational database model with its huge step forward. Relational databases allow files (tables) to be related by means of a common field or fields, and to relate any two tables, we simply join the tables on the common field. This makes the relational model extremely flexible and very adaptable to use in the Grid environment.

Relational Database

Although entire books have been written on relational theory, and careers are made on the design and optimization of relational databases, this book ...