Cross-platform Database Management

By: Artur Nowakowski

Over the last years database technologies have developed greatly. Nowadays many platforms with different functionality and complexity levels are available to choose from. It is a common belief that the more available and diverse the solutions, the better. But what about working with many different platforms at the same time?

Administrative horror

A common characteristic of today's enterprises is the coexistence of multiple database systems. Managing a cross-platform environment has become a real administrator's nightmare as the management of different database systems with help of many platform-dedicated applications is a very complex task. Those working with many platforms at a time are therefore particularly vulnerable to mistakes and errors.

The success of the whole organization can rely upon efficient database management. The situation particularly applies to telecommunications and finance industries. The companies struck by the problem are mainly banks, where even a small disturbance can have disastrous consequences. In this case, the problem appears to be more complex as the connections with external systems are more prevalent and further subsidiaries and branches increase the quantity of the generated data. Utility suppliers are also faced with the problem. Most of these companies aggregate data from different periods into database systems. It is therefore crucial to ensure cooperation between different platforms.

Data migration

It is clear that the number of partnerships between companies is ever growing. An efficient business integration process largely depends on accurate exchange of information resources. Merging the databases of the cooperating organizations is a risky venture. It is thus necessary that the application used in the process features reverse engineering. It is a collection of operations to obtain information on the structure and relations in the database. Reverse engineering is a very useful tool when there is no current documentation of the database. It often happens that organizations try to merge databases from different periods. The best solution in this case is use of a management system capable of handling multiple databases created in diverse technologies.

Not only the time

Oracle, DB2, MS SQL Server or Informix are just a few examples among many commercially available database systems. Different implementation technologies and various versions available on the market greatly complicate efficient administration. Actions carried out on each separate database mean not only a longer time to perform the operation, but also an increased risk of error, and such mistakes can be costly. Almost every system bases its operation on the database, obtaining and storing information in it. A damaged or halted database means downtime of many key services such as ERP systems.

Cross-platform systems

Many systems aspiring to this label can be found in the market, but none of them seems to be perfect. Existing solutions enable work with many different databases, however, not always to the full potential. Sometimes the range of possible actions is limited to particular databases. The problems also occur in case of import and export features. Some export file formats may not be possible to import into other databases. In this case, the migration without additional converters is impossible. The rise in the number of the applications involved in this process complicates the work and increases the risk of error.

Security and control

Many cross-platform database management systems' vendors do not seem to pay due attention to security issues, focusing only on automatic archiving. Apart from the automatic archiving and database restoring, an essential feature is repairing damaged databases. This is particularly important during any kind of migration operations. A good system must support dynamic management of databases and their components' access privileges. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon that an employee who has left the company several months ago still has the access to the corporate information resources. This situation may be due to the fact that the currently used application does not monitor the ongoing granting of privileges, but only shows a confusing list. Another important issue related to the security is monitoring – not only of the parameters related to the disc space the database occupies, but also of the capacity and performance parameters. Detailed statistics collected in this way allow reducing the risk of damage due to overload.

To see the invisible

Although visual query builders have become a standard in this type of applications, they can still be incomprehensive. This extends the time of obtaining relevant data, whereas efficient data visualization is a crucial factor. It facilitates not only navigation in a complex environment, but also allows for better data structure representations. Some applications offer forward-engineering, which generates data structure images and allows an adjustment of its current structure to that adopted in the fixed model. Such a visualization of the database structure and a feature to display queries in the form of charts is not only a convenient service. It is also the access to information for a greater number of users, who are able to quickly find the information they need without any knowledge on how the database works. It is therefore important that the vendors are committed to cooperation with the administrators, considering their suggestions and proposals.

A possible solution

Verax Systems currently works on a tool integrating multiple database systems. Our aim is to create an application that provides full functionality to monitor and perform operations on many types of databases simultaneously. The solution is designed to help companies wishing to integrate their database environments and improve their administration. The system will provide advanced support of multiple databases working in various technologies. A broad spectrum of possible operations and data migration support between any types of databases will effectively integrate and manage different environments. Advanced data visualization modules to support not only administrators but also individual users will increase the number of people able to access the information gathered in the database.

Furthermore, Verax Systems lays great emphasis on the issues related to data security. An automatic backup feature along with the recovery of the damaged elements is intended to prevent the loss of the valuable resources. An important element of the security module is a so-called early alerting system. By monitoring the performance and the resource utilization parameters, the module warns the administrator about the event probability (e.g. full disc workload) in a timely manner.

Time flies

The databases have become an indispensable tool in business activities. With the development of enterprises the number of data increases, which necessitates their database capability growth. For many organizations their databases built over the years have become the foundation of the market success and represent their competitive advantage. Growing information resources and rapid technology development create new challenges for the database environment maintenance and efficient administration. The demand among medium enterprises is also gradually increasing due to the popularization of ERP systems.

All these factors contribute to the emergence of new cross-platform tools to effectively support the administration of increasingly complex environments. It is crucial then that the solutions are created in cooperation with the administrators as well as the end users.

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