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Archive for February, 2009

Database Architecture Meets Prefab Architecture

February 4th, 2009

The February 2009 issue of Dwell on Prefab Architecture intrigued me and led the data architect in me to identify some similarities between current prefab and database architecture. In the past, all prefab options were kits. For example, in the early 1900s a Sears and Roebuck home came with a 75 page instruction manual and 30,000 pieces, not including screws and nails. There was little if any freedom to deviate from the manual. The same could be said of packaged database software; you got what you purchased and nothing else.
As the issue pointed out, the times have changed in the prefab housing world; you can now purchase prefab offerings that you can customize with your own personal touch. Your prefab pad no longer has to scream, “I am just like the house next door!” The same is now true for the database world. You can now purchase an online database solution like TrackVia, without worrying about getting trapped into a specific mold that was designed or dictated by someone else. Today, online databases are extremely flexible and give you a host of options to customize the database to suit your business’ individual needs.
Like the Dwell article, I have outlined the benefits of today’s prefab database architecture:

Affordable – Online databases are more affordable than pre-packaged and custom designed databases, and come with unlimited free phone and online support (at least with TrackVia).

Mobile – Online database solutions can be accessed wherever there is an Internet connection, allowing you to take your database with you.

Reconfigurable – Edit your database to meet your needs: easily add/concert fields, control user permissions and change format views to meet your specific criteria.

Completely Custom – Easily customize database to meet your specific data tracking needs without the need of a consultant with programming knowledge. Also, receive new features in real-time.

There is always the option to hire an architect to build a custom house or a programmer to build a custom database, however it does not come cheap. If you were an architect designing the future of “prefab” databases, what features would you look for to differentiate your blueprints?

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Posted in features, industry trends, online database

Tags: database architecture online database

Google Shows Its Human Side

February 3rd, 2009

Were you one of the Googlers worried you were infecting your computer with viruses on Saturday morning?

For about an hour on Saturday, each and every Google search resulted in a warning that “this site may harm your computer.” What happened, according to a Google statement, is due to – human error. Google works with a nonprofit that tracks the sites that install malicious software on visiting computers. On Saturday, someone accidentally checked the input value that applied to ALL URLs – ouch!

The term “human error” in situations like these is kind of amusing. It’s framed almost as a good thing (“don’t worry – there’s nothing wrong with our software. Bob just pushed the wrong button!), but the reality is that human error can be just as harmful as systemic errors – especially because you can usually weed out the systemic errors by fixing the code (or, for you Office Space fans out there, “fixing the glitch”).

There’s often no such quick fix for human error. And the more times you have people manually enter and manipulate data, the more risk you’re running of human error.

Obviously we are all humans, and this event has proven that even Google can’t escape the occasional human error.

TrackVia’s online database solution has a few features to help us with our humanly ways. Features such as automatic change tracking notes, user permissions and relational databases help to eliminate human error or at a minimum easily identify the culprit making changes to the database.