Data architecture is an essential part of any organization’s data management strategy. When data exists in a multitude of different formats and sources, it can make managing that data a challenging task. But, what if you weren’t required to view each data element from every possible angle? What if you could instead focus on creating a high-level overview of your data rather than trying to understand every facet of the individual rows or columns? The answer is, that you already know what data architecture is: it’s when you take a data model and break it down into individual pieces (e.g., tables, fields, dimensions). It’s not called that – most people still refer to it as “Data Modeling” or “Data Architecture” even though the two aren’t the same thing. In this article, we explore the differences between Data Modeling and Data Architecture and provide examples of how they can be used in practical applications.
What is Data Modeling?
Data Modeling is the process of creating a high-level overview of all the data in your system. The data modeling process maps data elements and their relationships to create a high-level view of your data. The data modeling process is often referred to as data modeling or data architecture. The data model is the foundation for your data architecture, which is built on top of the model. The data architecture refers to the specific structure of your data, the relationships between the pieces, and the common resolutions between them.
What is Data Architecture?
Data architecture is the process of building a data model from scratch or an existing data set. It determines the data type (e.g., how the data is structured), the relationships between the pieces (e.g., between tables, between fields, between dimensions), and the resolution between them (e.g., the number of columns and/or rows). The data architecture should reflect the data model’s purpose. If the data is for display only, the model should simply be a table. If the data needs to be able to store some level of fidelity, the model should contain a table and possibly some additional data types.
Why is Data Modeling Important?
Data is the lifeblood of any organization. It drives almost every operation within a business and provides insights that, when combined with other data, make a strong case for making a decision based on the gathered facts. But data has a habit of getting in the way. When data is present in various forms and has various properties, it can be difficult to analyze and understand. Split-second decisions can depend on data that comes into the system instantaneously while others take significantly longer to process. If you’re like most organizations, the challenge is managing the diversity of data types and sources — whether that’s between yourself and your suppliers, your products, your customers, your finances, or some other aspect of your data.
Differences between Data Modeling and Data Architecture
Data Modeling and Data Architecture are sometimes confused because they appear similar. Both involve breaking down data into smaller pieces and then recombining those pieces to create a representation of the original data. But there are important differences between the two that you should consider before making sweeping generalizations.
How to Build a Data Model
The first thing to understand about data models is that they’re not designed to be created by hackers or data scientists. That’s why the data model tools are specifically designed for non-data professionals: if you’re a business owner or data engineer, you can use the same tools to create a data architecture. So, the first step to building a data model is to understand what data type you want to model. Type can be described in a few words: Key – This is the most important property of a data type. If the data is missing or incorrect, the model will not accurately reflect your data. Status – This tells you how fresh the data is. Old data will be neglected while new data will be added and merged without checking its accuracy. Range – This tells you how much data exists within the object. For example, a list may have a “range” of items, while a table may only show the “population” of the item.
How to Build a Data Architecture
The data architecture creates a high-level overview of your data. It Butler, details the relationships between the model and the architecture. It should include information about which data types are associated with each property and why those types are associated with that property. The data architecture is a living, breathing document. It should be updated as needed based on changes to the model and the receipt of new data. The data architecture should be designed to be extensible. Because the data architecture should be a living document, you should consider creating a data extension platform to support your data. That way, you don’t have to spend time writing complex extensions for every new option that emerges within your organization.
Summary
As the name suggests, data architecture defines the data model. It determines the data type (e.g., how the data is structured), the relationships between the pieces (e.g., between tables, between fields, between dimensions), and the resolution between them (e.g., the number of columns and/or rows). The data architecture should reflect the data model’s purpose. If the data is for display only, the model should simply be a table. If the data needs to be able to store some level of fidelity, the model should contain a table and possibly some additional data types. Data architecture is not a data model. A data architecture describes the relationship between the data model and the data architecture. Data architecture can be described in a few words as: “This is the model and this is the architecture.”
