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Database management depends on structure -- of reality and of data representing it in databases -- which determines the data manipulation and integrity enforcement by database management systems (DBMS).

Having argued this for decades I have been, predictably, quite skeptical of the hype of systems that manage and extract information from so-called "unstructured data," purportedly obviating the need for business modeling and database design. It's also why I've been skeptical of the criticism of SQL-based DBMS as inflexible because they force big data, much of it text, into tabular schemas in which it doesn't fit or that is difficult to envision upfront. 

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See N-ary vs. Binary Relations: Anatomy of a Compound Misconception

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1. Quote of the Week.

My best advice in all architecture, and platform choices, like RDBMS vs NoSql. The number 1 question, every single assumption you have about the system, the "this is important because X Y X and this that etc etc. Every single "has to be" you have there, expect every single part of it to change. How would you build your system if every "key fact" was expected to change. These key facts, that are supposed to be pillars are actually volatility themselves and need accounted for, not accepted. --LinkedIn

2. To Laugh or Cry?

How can we add employees, dept and location tables in oracle 10g?

3. Online exchanges I participated in

I am referring you back to an item I posted in last update:

What is a Data Model And which “Data Model” do you prefer?

for two reasons: comments were added since then that should be read, some of which belong in the "To Laugh or Cry" category.


4. What do these two items tell you?

Next gen NoSQL: The demise of eventual consistency

Currently search engines are thought of as tools to find text but Ashok Chandra, Microsoft distinguished scientist and general manager of the Interaction and Intent Group at Microsoft Research Silicon Valley, believes people soon will think of search engines as “task engines.”

“Search technology began with words,” says Chandra.  “We built a whole search infrastructure around words. But in this new era of search, we are working with entities, because people think in terms of them, such as a hotel, a movie, an event, a hiking trail, or a person. The Leibniz platform is designed from the ground up to deal in entities, with the goal of making it easier for people to accomplish the tasks they set out to do.”

--A Look Microsoft’s ‘Leibniz’ Platform

BTW, I love "Interaction and Intent Group". Wonderful.


5. And now for something completely different.

 I Challenged Hackers to Investigate Me

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See Date Model: The RDM Is, the E/RM Isn't