‘The Internet and Exchange and Storage of Information 5. Data Storage The words ‘data’ and ‘information’ are often used to refer to the same thing, but in computer terms the two are different. Data is computer generated (stored on disk or in memory on a computer) and the resulting output of data is displayed as information that a user can understand. Data storage may refer to information stored in a database or data stored on storage media, such as a hard drive, CD-ROM or memory stick. 5.1. What is a Database? A database is used for storage of information. The most common example used to describe a database is the telephone directory. The telephone directory consists of records of information detailing names, addresses and telephone numbers, all stored in an organised database management system. A database has many other uses: = Library booking systems = Mail merge = Price lists * Producing mailing labels = Customer details * Producing reports Large-scale databases are used in many areas, such as: = Airline booking systems = Government records = Bank account records = Hospital patient records 5.2. Database Structure ‘A database is a versatile tool and can be used to store numerical information and perform calculations ~ such as finding totals or averages. You can also make data available on the Internet or an intranet for interactive reporting, data entry or data analysis. Information in a database is organised in the following way: = Each item of information, e.g. customer surname, is held in a field, + Arecord is a collection of fields ~ for example, details about each customer could be stored in a record, where the individual fields are the forename, surname, address and telephone number of a customer. = Atable is a collection of records. For example, a table of customers may contain a record for each customer. There might be a number of different tables in a database. * Queries are used to look up specific data in a table — for example, to find out all the customers who live in a particular area, * Forms are used to enter new records, to edit existing records and to present data on the screen. = Reports are used to print out information from a database — for example, to print out a personalised letter to all customers or to print out a list of all customers who owe money. An example of fields and records is shown below: Name ‘Address 1 Town. Date of Birth [Amount Owed John Smith ['5 Rowan Close Chester. 14/06/1965 £120.00 BTEC First ICT Unit 1 Learner Companion @nd Ed) Page 31 of 81 (© ZigZag Education, 2014B- The Internet and Exchange and Storage of Information The record above details information about a customer and is broken down into fields: John Smith is a field; Name is the field name (or field heading). This line of information relating to John Smith is a record and this record, along with other records relating to different customers, would make up a table of information, which would be stored in a database. Defining relationships between tables allows you to bring together data from more than one table by matching a unique field in one table with a field in another table, thereby minimising duplication of data Suppose a car hire shop has a list of cars and a list of bookings. Consider the following two scenarios: 1. The manager finds a dent in one of the cars, and wants to know how much the car cost and who has hired it. 2. Aprevious customer comes in and wants to know what model they booked last time to see if they can book the same kind of car. In both cases, information is needed from both tables. In the list of cars, each car will have a unique registration number. Therefore, it makes sense to log the registration number of the car every time a car is hired — this is the link (relationship) between each table. It means that in scenario one, the manager can Use the registration number to look up everyone who has hired the car, and the previous customer can look up the registration number from their last hire and then look up the car model in the other list. ‘The kind of relationship that is created depends on how the related fields are defined: = Acne-to-many relationship is created only if one of the related fields is a primary key or has a unique index (lke in the car hire shop - the registration number is unique for each car in the list of cars, but in the bookings list the same car registration can be hired many times) = Acne-to-one relationship is created if both the related fields are primary keys or have unique indexes (for example, a list of cars and a list of current owners would have a one-to-one relationship between them). 5.3. Database Operation Itis important to understand how a database system operates. There are different levels of database operation. For example, a user will operate an existing database which has been designed and created by a database specialist. The user enters data and interrogates the data to find results. The user can then present the resulting output in report format for a professional appearance. The user will be responsible for the maintenance of the data and for information retrieval. The database specialist designs and creates the database, so that it can be used efficiently and effectively for the intended purpose by the user. Some companies use common database software applications to manage and retrieve data, whereas other companies hire an expert to design and create a bespoke database system designed specifically for the type of data management required by the company. Online business databases can be accessed via networks, such as LANs, WANs, intranets, extranets and the Internet. Online databases may allow multiple access, subject to access levels, in order to update and edit data. However, itis likely that the data will be ultimately managed and controlled by a database supervisor. Such online databases may use software, such as customer relationship management database software used by different departments of a company to store and track customer information and orders. Most companies that employ a large-scale database system will have a database administrator to look after security aspects and usage rights. The database administrator provides access to specific data for appropriate users - these are called access rights. The database administrator is also responsible for recovery of a database after a crash or when major errors occur. BTEC First ICT Unit 1 Learner Companion (2nd Ed) Page 52 0f81 (© ZigZag Education, 2014B- The Internet and Exchange and Storage of Information 5.4. Database Management Systems A database management system (DBMS) is used by businesses to share data, control and manage redundant data, and ensure consistency and integrity of data. A DBMS is structured using SQL language. Databases can do more than store data; they are utilised within Internet search engines which contain a vast amount of information. This data can be accessed globally by use of specific keywords or criteria. 5.5. Structured Query Language When a query is created in a database software program such as Microsoft Access, it is written using SQL language. The user does not see the SQL language, but views the results in the form of a user-friendly interface For it to work, an SQL statement must use the correct syntax (language). ‘An SQL SELECT statement is constructed in the following way: These are { SELECT = field heading These are called FROM table name called ‘operators’ | WHERE = criterion ‘identifiers’ The example shown below is of a simple SQL query to extract the Student ID for all students from the ICT department. Note: each SQL clause ends with a semicolon. SELECT StudentiD FROM Student Records WHERE Department IC 5,6, Data Storage Media The computer has several drives for storage. You can add more drives if required, either as internal or external drives, The image below displays the icons indicating the different storage areas that may be available on a computer. Bmw pmme ame CoRWOHWe(F) oF Ponoratons) SS rewovato The local disk is the hard drive or C: drive and is usually located within the computer, but you can also buy an external hard drive if required. The local drive contains the programs. The other drives displayed in the image above are for removable devices - a 3% floppy A drive, for floppy disks that take up to 1.44 MB of data, a DVD drive, and a CD-RW drive which enables up to 7OOMB of data to be stored (the RW means Read/Write which means that you can read from the disk and also write data onto it). The Removable (G) drive displayed above is the USB memory drive (called solid-state technology due to the lack of moving parts), capable of storing large amounts of data from megabytes to gigabytes. Removable (H) is also a USB memory drive. Other drives can be added if required, but you may need to purchase a USB hub so that you have sufficient ports to connect the devices. BTEC First ICT Unit 1 Learner Companion (2nd Ed) Page 53 of 81 (© ZigZag Education, 2014