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Chapter 6 Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management 249

unstructured data, including Web, social media, graphics, and other forms of
data that are difficult to analyze with traditional SQL-based tools.
There are several different kinds of NoSQL databases, each with its own
technical features and behavior. Oracle NoSQL Database is one example,
as is Amazon’s SimpleDB, one of the Amazon Web Services that run in the
cloud. SimpleDB provides a simple Web services interface to create and store
multiple data sets, query data easily, and return the results. There is no need
to pre-define a formal database structure or change that definition if new data
are added later.
Amazon and other cloud computing vendors provide relational database
services as well. Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) offers
MySQL, SQL Server, or Oracle Database as database engines. Pricing is based
on usage. Oracle has its own Database Cloud Service using its relational Oracle
Database 11g, and Microsoft SQL Azure Database is a cloud-based relational
database service based on Microsoft’s SQL Server DBMS. Cloud-based data
management services have special appeal for Web-focused start-ups or small
to medium-sized businesses seeking database capabilities at a lower price than
in-house database products.
TicketDirect, which sells tickets to concerts, sporting events, theater
performances, and movies in Australia and New Zealand, adopted the SQL Azure
Database cloud platform in order to improve management of peak system loads
during major ticket sales. It migrated its data to the SQL Azure database. By
moving to a cloud solution, TicketDirect is able to scale its computing resources
in response to real-time demand while keeping costs low.
In addition to public cloud-based data management services, companies
now have the option of using databases in private clouds. For example,
Sabre Holdings, the world’s largest software as a service (SaaS) provider for
the aviation industry, has a private database cloud that supports more than
100 projects and 700 users. A consolidated database spanning a pool of stan-
dardized servers running Oracle Database 11g provides database services
for multiple applications. Workload management tools ensure sufficient
resources are available to meet application needs even when the workload
changes. The shared hardware and software platform reduces the number of
servers, DBMS, and storage devices needed for these projects, which consist
of custom airline travel applications along with rail, hotel, and other travel
industry applications (Baum, 2011).
Private clouds consolidate servers, storage, operating systems, databases, and
mixed workloads onto a shared hardware and software infrastructure. Deploying
databases on a consolidated private cloud enables IT departments to improve
quality of service levels and reduce capital and operating costs. The higher the
consolidation density achieved, the greater the return on investment.

CAPABILITIES OF DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

A DBMS includes capabilities and tools for organizing, managing, and accessing
the data in the database. The most important are its data definition language,
data dictionary, and data manipulation language.
DBMS have a data definition capability to specify the structure of the
content of the database. It would be used to create database tables and to
define the characteristics of the fields in each table. This information about
the database would be documented in a data dictionary. A data dictionary is
an automated or manual file that stores definitions of data elements and their
characteristics.

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