Case Study: Jones Sons

Case Study: Jones & Sons

SCENARIO

ESSENCE OF THE CASE:

• Current data design is devoid of fast access.

• Jones & Sons handles more clients each day and the processing is getting difficult.

• They need a re-creation of the data model.

Starting as a small local bead trading company, Jones & Sons now exports and imports beads nationwide with headquarters in Detroit. Jones knew that the company would expand sometime in the distant future and so didn't worry too much about the inventory storage design he would use. His slothfulness backfired on him. There are many client interactions each day, and the current system, a poor inventory storage design created at an extremely low cost by one of the junior developers in town, just can't handle the volume. Jones and his staff have decided to implement a new design based on the original groundwork already existing. They hire you to implement a new database design that will expedite access and reduce data redundancy.

ANALYSIS

You request a copy of the original database design to see the flaws placed in it by the previous developer. You spot numerous defects affecting the design, some of which defy the foundations of database normalization, dependencies, and redundancy. After a moment of thought, you assume that the design did not even go through the process of database normalization, for if it did, all the deficiency and lack of flexibility would have been eliminated.

You decide to normalize the database until you find its best fit: the third normal form (3NF). You resolve all dependencies and interdependencies and eliminate attribute redundancy. Not only do Jones and his users see a great improvement in the overall data retrieval and modification, but they also notice an immense improvement in the hard disk space the database consumes, which is due to the effectiveness of the removal of repeated data.