What distinguishes column-family stores from traditional relational databases?
- Ability to scale horizontally
- Optimized for transactional processing
- Support for SQL queries
- Use of a fixed schema
One of the key distinctions is that column-family stores are designed to scale horizontally, allowing them to handle large volumes of data by distributing it across multiple nodes. This is in contrast to traditional relational databases, which often scale vertically by adding more resources to a single server.
The process of __________ involves removing redundancy and ensuring each piece of data is stored only once.
- Denormalization
- Indexing
- Normalization
- Partitioning
The process of normalization involves removing redundancy in a database by organizing data to ensure each piece of information is stored only once. This improves data integrity and reduces the likelihood of anomalies.
A Data Warehouse integrates data from _______ sources.
- Identical
- Limited
- Localized
- Multiple
A Data Warehouse integrates data from multiple sources. This includes data from different departments, systems, and formats to provide a unified view for analytical purposes. The integration helps in obtaining a comprehensive and consistent view of the organization's data.
_______ data partitioning involves dividing data based on specific criteria or functions.
- Functional
- Hash
- Range
- Round-robin
Functional data partitioning divides data based on specific criteria or functions relevant to the application. This approach allows for tailored partitioning strategies that align with the application's logic, facilitating optimized data distribution and retrieval.
Scenario: A startup company with limited resources is looking for a cost-effective solution for database design and management. They prioritize ease of use and flexibility. Which database design tool would be most suitable for their needs, and what features make it a good choice?
- DBDesigner
- SQLiteStudio
- TablePlus
- Vertabelo
SQLiteStudio is a cost-effective solution known for its ease of use and flexibility. It is a lightweight tool suitable for startups with limited resources. It provides a user-friendly interface and supports various database management tasks, making it an ideal choice for small-scale projects.
Which dimension change type in SCD involves creating a new record for each change, thus preserving historical data?
- Type 1
- Type 2
- Type 3
- Type 4
In Slowly Changing Dimensions (SCD), Type 2 involves creating a new record for each change. This method ensures that historical data is preserved, as each version of the record is stored with its effective start and end dates.
Scenario: A banking system stores customer information and transaction records. How would you ensure data integrity in such a system?
- Allowing NULL values in critical fields
- Encrypting the data during transmission
- Implementing referential integrity constraints
- Regular database backups
Ensuring data integrity in a banking system involves implementing referential integrity constraints. This ensures that relationships between tables are maintained, preventing orphaned records and inconsistencies. Regular backups, while important, focus more on data recovery than on preventing integrity issues.
When might vertical partitioning be preferable over horizontal partitioning?
- When the data distribution is skewed across rows
- When the database needs to be horizontally scaled
- When the dataset is too large to fit in a single partition
- When there are frequent insert and update operations on specific columns
Vertical partitioning is preferable over horizontal partitioning when there are frequent insert and update operations on specific columns. By separating columns that are frequently updated from the rest of the data, vertical partitioning can enhance write performance and reduce contention for heavily modified columns.
How do you ensure scalability and flexibility in a conceptual schema design?
- Denormalizing the schema to enhance performance
- Implementing a rigid schema structure
- Normalizing the schema to minimize redundancy
- Utilizing partitioning and indexing strategies
Scalability and flexibility in conceptual schema design can be achieved by employing partitioning and indexing strategies. This ensures efficient data retrieval and accommodates future growth without sacrificing performance.
Scenario: An e-commerce website's database struggles to handle concurrent user requests, leading to high latency and downtime. How would you optimize the database to improve its scalability and responsiveness?
- Enable database compression, optimize network latency, implement vertical scaling, and use a load balancer
- Implement sharding, use a Content Delivery Network (CDN), optimize database schema, and consider NoSQL solutions
- Switch to a different database management system, increase server RAM, implement horizontal scaling, and use a distributed cache
- Upgrade the web server, compress database backups, enable browser caching, and increase database isolation level
To improve scalability and responsiveness in an e-commerce database, techniques such as sharding, CDN usage, optimizing the database schema, and considering NoSQL solutions are effective. These measures help handle concurrent user requests and reduce latency.