Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Bible

Chapter 2. Data Architecture

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Pragmatic data architecture

• Evaluating database designs

• Designing performance into the database

• Avoiding normalization over-complexity

• Relational design patterns

You can tell by looking at a building whether there's an elegance to the architecture, but architecture is more than just good looks. Architecture brings together materials, foundations, and standards. In the same way, data architecture is the study of defining what a good database is and how one builds a good database. That's why data architecture is more than just data modeling, more than just server configuration, and more than just a collection of tips and tricks.

Data architecture is the overarching design of the database, how the database should be developed and implemented, and how it interacts with other software. In this sense, data architecture can be related to the architecture of a home, a factory, or a skyscraper. Data architecture is defined by the Information Architecture Principle and the six attributes by which every database can be measured.

Enterprise data architecture extends the basic ideas of designing a single database to include designing which types of databases serve which needs within the organization, how those databases share resources, and how they communicate with one another and other software. In this sense, enterprise data architecture is community planning or zoning, and is concerned with applying the best database meta-patterns (e.g., relational OTLP ...