Designing Your Database Solution

The process of planning your database begins with your application and the problem that it will solve. Every database and software application has its roots in solving an existing business problem or meeting a new requirement. The business problem could be an existing application that needs to increase its scalability, or it could be an entirely new application for a new company, division, or market. Regardless of what has sparked the need for your new database solution, it begins with logically defining what your database will store and deliver to your applications. This planning phase will determines how your database solution will work particularly the where, what, and how.

The what answer comes first. What your database solution will do largely entails the goals of your application and the information it will contain. Is your database solution an e-commerce product catalog and order-entry system, a knowledge base solution, or possibly an internal corporate application such as employee management? The answers to this question will allow you to estimate how much data will be in the database, what kind of...