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Chapter 6 Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management 263

FIGURE 6.14 LINKING INTERNAL DATABASES TO THE WEB

Users access an organization’s internal database through the Web using their desktop PCs and Web
browser software.

DBMS resides on a dedicated computer called a database server. The DBMS
receives the SQL requests and provides the required data. Middleware trans-
fers information from the organization’s internal database back to the Web
server for delivery in the form of a Web page to the user.
Figure 6.14 shows that the middleware working between the Web server and
the DBMS is an application server running on its own dedicated computer (see
Chapter 5). The application server software handles all application operations,
including transaction processing and data access, between browser-based
computers and a company’s back-end business applications or databases. The
application server takes requests from the Web server, runs the business logic
to process transactions based on those requests, and provides connectivity to
the organization’s back-end systems or databases. Alternatively, the software
for handling these operations could be a custom program or a CGI script. A
CGI script is a compact program using the Common Gateway Interface (CGI)
specification for processing data on a Web server.
There are a number of advantages to using the Web to access an organiza-
tion’s internal databases. First, Web browser software is much easier to use than
proprietary query tools. Second, the Web interface requires few or no changes
to the internal database. It costs much less to add a Web interface in front of a
legacy system than to redesign and rebuild the system to improve user access.
Accessing corporate databases through the Web is creating new efficiencies,
opportunities, and business models. ThomasNet.com provides an up-to-date
online directory of more than 650,000 suppliers of industrial products, such as
chemicals, metals, plastics, rubber, and automotive equipment. Formerly
called Thomas Register, the company used to send out huge paper catalogs
with this information. Now it provides this information to users online via its
Web site and has become a smaller, leaner company.
Other companies have created entirely new businesses based on access to
large databases through the Web. One is the social networking service
Facebook, which helps users stay connected with each other and meet new
people. Facebook features “profiles” with information on more than 950
million active users with information about themselves, including interests,
friends, photos, and groups with which they are affiliated. Facebook maintains
a massive database to house and manage all of this content.
There are also many Web-enabled databases in the public sector to help
consumers and citizens access helpful information. The Interactive Session on
Organizations describes one of these databases, which has generated controversy
over its methods for providing consumer product safety data.

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