Relational Database Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Relational Database - Essay Example The data stored in such databases includes the past data and archives too along with the current one. Object oriented databases have now become very popular as they provide a greater degree of flexibility in data storage and also provide a resource efficient storage mechanism. The data storage in the object oriented databases is in the form of objects instead of storing as rows and columns. The integration and connectivity of individual systems provide support to connect stand alone machines. In the current environment, the databases are all linked at the backend. This provides for client-server database architecture which gives a whole new dimension to existing database structure. The databases today are based on client-server architecture and provide support for multimedia content. They are huge in size as storage costs are not of much concern today. Data warehouses act as archives and analytical tool for the historical data. Relational database was a revolution in the field of databases. The idea of having a tabular structure composed of rows and columns was a ground breaking proposition to make storage and retrieval easier than ever before. Peter Rob in his book describes the relational database in terms of storage and representation. The relational database model allows the designer to focus on the logical representation of the data and its relationships than the physical storage details. The tables are all logical, having the similar physical storage mechanisms at the backend. Each table is referred to as relation, and hence called relational database, having a unique attribute(s) which make up the primary key. Each table is linked to one or more tables through the primary key and foreign key architecture. The relational databases use the concept of indexing for making the search faster and easier. The indexes are not the keys, but are attributes used for faster