DEFINITION:

Data modeling is a method used to define and analyze data requirements needed to support the business
processes of an organization.

A data model is created to represent the requirements of an organization. It serves as a blueprint for the
database system.

WHY DATA MODELING:

To understand why to build a data model, we take an example of a business which sells products to
customers. We want to create a database just to support such sale transactions and nothing more. In
our database, we need to keep data to support the business.

In the real world of this business, data exists about customers, products, and sales of products to
customers. Now look at the Figure 1, which shows these elements for business.

The method for showing the information requirement is haphazard and arbitrary.

Now if you are asked to depict information requirement, you would do in a way and if someone other is
asked to do, he will do in some other way.

Now we try to build a database using this information in the above picture. Here we have all the
elements but don’t have the information like the relationship of the entities and their dependencies on
each other. i.e which entity relates to which entity and would be useful to build the database.

Now we try to improve the situation a bit. Let us try to depict the information requirements in slightly
better and more standard manner i.e figure 2 below where the depiction is somewhat clearer.
This figure presents a picture that could better help us to communicate with the users with a little more
clarity and also enable us to proceed with the implementation of the database system. Now we can
show the users the business objects of the CUSTOMER, PRODUCT and SALE about which the database
system will contain data. Also, we can show how these objects are related to each other.

This is an attempt to achieve a good data model for better depiction of the business. And this data
modeling of the business requirements is the description of overall business goals towards customers
and the business owners.

The process of creating these data models using different techniques is called Data Modeling.

DATA MODELING TECHNIQUES:

There are mainly three main types of data modeling.

1-Conceptual Data Modeling:

At the highest level, the data model is independent of any hardware or software constraints and that’s
why it is called as Conceptual data model. At this level, the data model is generic; it does not vary
whether you want to implement an object-relational database, a relational database, a hierarchical
database or a network database. So, it is also called as generic data modeling as shown in the diagram 3.
 FIGURE 3- Conceptual Data Model

2-Logical Data Modeling:

At the next level down, data model is a logical model relating to a particular type of database; a
relational database, a hierarchical database or a network database. This is because in each of these
types, data structures are perceived differently.

As, we can see in the below figure that we convert our conceptual model into the logical entities like
customers, products and sales and assign primary key among all of these entities and remaining as
foreign keys to make more structured our model.

This logical assignment makes this second level of modeling as logical modeling and more specific in
comparison with conceptual modeling technique.
 FIGURE 3- Logical Data Model

3-PHYSICAL DATA MODELING:

If we proceed further downwards, data model is a physical model relating to the particular database
management system (DBMS), we may use to implement the database. This model describes the physical
data in our database exactly required for our database management system as shown in below figure 4.

Logical data model is used to create physical data model which is final product of the all the levels of
getting a practical model to define and analyze the data requirement required to support the business
processes in the organization.

So, data modeling is basically the process of making organized and structured information requirement
of any business in the organization.