ACID properties characterize RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) database processing or a data warehouse. Originally coined in the early 1980s, according to DAMA DMBoK, the ACID philosophy consists of requirements for generating and maintaining reliable database transactions. ACID provides consistency before, during and after transactions through five properties: Atomic: Each task in a transaction succeeds […]
What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
According to the SAS Institute: “Artificial intelligence (AI) makes it possible for machines to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs and perform human-like tasks. Most AI examples that you hear about today – from chess-playing computers to self-driving cars – rely heavily on deep learning and natural language processing. Using these technologies, computers can […]
What is BASE?
BASE describes database processing germane to a NoSQL database, such as a data lake. An increasing number of data volumes and variability, according to DAMA DMBoK, spurred the BASE philosophy. Its popularity rose in 2008. BASE provides less assurance than ACID, but it scales very well and reacts well to rapid data changes. BASE construction […]
What is Big Data?
Big Data refers to extremely large data sets of varying types of data – structured, unstructured, and semi-structured – that can be collected, stored, and later analyzed to provide insights for organizations. Big Data’s promise depends on how the data is managed. In the past data was organized in relational models, sometimes within data warehouses, […]
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain is a distributed database and storage devices for the database are not all connected to a common processor. “A Blockchain or distributed ledger,” as Gartner describes, “is a mechanism for adding trust in an untrusted environment.” Blockchain’s special capabilities in cryptography lead to this increased trust as a medium. Each transaction has a record. […]
What is Canonical Data Modeling?
Canonical Data Modeling documents, using Data Modeling techniques, how messages or packets pass between different systems internally in the organization and across different company systems, to do e-business. Data sometimes vary, across systems, in their definitions. For example, a company may have defined “customer” for a data warehouse constructed 10 years ago and then characterized […]
What is a Chief Data Officer (CDO)?
A Chief Data Officer (CDO) helps bridge the gap between technology and business. This person evangelizes an enterprise-wide Data Management strategy at a senior level. The CDO leads Data Management initiatives, enabling an organization to leverage its data assets and gain a competitive advantage from them. A CDO tends to be part business strategist, adviser, […]
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud Computing provides computation, software, data access, and storage systems without requiring knowledge of the physical location and configuration needed. Cloud Computing may be executed on or off premises, and has adopted virtualization, service-oriented architecture, and utility computing. Databases in the cloud may be implemented by: Virtual Machine Image: Users purchase virtual machine instances with […]
What is Cognitive Computing?
Cognitive Computing, a subfield of Artificial Intelligence, simulates human thought processes in machines using self-learning algorithms through data mining, pattern recognition, and Natural Language Processing. These artificial environments rely on Deep Learning algorithms and neural networks to process information by comparing it to a teaching set of data. By mimicking human thought processes, computers help people […]
What is a Data Analyst?
Data analysts help businesses make better, more informed decisions by not only collecting and investigating data, but also translating the relevant information into useful observations for their customers, which can include technical staff, business teams, or leadership. In many organizations, data analyst and data scientist roles share similarities, but data analysts focus on speedily interpreting […]