Modeling Architecture

Modeling Architecture

These five modeling levels are presented in the following figure. Notice that the DBMS Model can be at either an Area Level scope, or a Project Level scope. It is not uncommon to have single ERD and KB models for a business and multiple DBMS Models, one for each implementation environment, and then another set within that environment for projects that do not share databases. In an ideal situation, there are a set of Area Level scope DBMS Models, one for each environment, with complete data sharing across all projects in that environment.

These models fall into two categories:

■Logical

■Physical

Logical Models

There are three levels of logical models that are used to capture business information requirements: the Entity Relationship Diagram, the Key-Based Model, and the Fully-Attributed model. The Entity Relationship Diagram and the Key-Based models are also called area data models since they often cover a wide business area that is larger than the business chooses to address with a single automation project. In contrast, the Fully-Attributed model is a project data model since it typically describes a portion of an overall data structure intended for support by a single automation effort.

16 Methods Guide