A foreign key is a column or columns of data in one table that refers to the unique data values -- often the primary key data -- in another table. Foreign keys link together two or more tables in a ...

A primary key, also called a primary keyword, is a column in a relational database table that's distinctive for each record. It's a unique identifier, such as a driver's license number, telephone ...

Which makes for a better primary key: natural data points or meaningless values? Database developers have strong opinions on this facet of primary key design. This article settles the debate once and ...

Excel possesses formidable database powers. Creating a relational database starts with a Master table that links it to subordinates, called (awkwardly) Slave, Child, or Detail tables. Before we dive ...

It's good to be back writing for Intelligent Enterprise after a long break. I was writing for Intelligent Enterprise before it was Intelligent Enterprise. Let me explain. In the early '90s, I had a ...

Conventional wisdom states that relational databases are not scalable or robust enough to handle the huge numbers of connections, the massive throughput, and all the cool tricks required to master IoT ...

The original intention of surrogate keys across multidimensional database designs was to help optimize joins by keeping all keys, used for joining between facts and dimensions, both numeric and single ...

If you’ve worked with relational database systems for any length of time, you’ve probably participated in a discussion (argument?) about the topic of this month’s column, surrogate keys. A great ...

If you want to know what’s what in Big Data analytics today, you’ve got to know the basics of NoSQL databases, and how appropriate NoSQL databases facilitate Big Data analytics. What are the most ...