Database Management: Security
Section I: Fundamentals of DatabasesThe value of databases is in their ability to assist organizations of all types to be more efficient while streamlining the core processes they rely on. To accomplish this, databases must be relational in structure (Greene, 2008), supporting the structure of tables, records, and relational associations across multiple physical databases. The mission-critical role databases play in organizations is a direct result of their ability to support multiple, and often conflicting data models. Each variation of a data model also relies on tables that are most often two dimensional in scope. Databases are also capable of providing multi-dimensional analysis of data in cubes and pivot tables (Hanna, 2004). This ability to analyze data and create relational analysis is also the catalyst of a significant shift in the development of databases as the foundation for Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) strategies in organizations (Ramakrishnan, Chen, 2007). At the foundation of these advanced analytics functions are the fundamentals of how databases are constructed. Built primarily from records, each with specific fields within them, databases have progressed from hierarchical to relational over the
Section III: Database SecurityIntroduction Best practices in securing databases extends beyond the relatively simplistic authentication methods of guarding logins and passwords to include comprehensive database management security at the architectural layer of relational database applications. The fundamental aspects of database integration have relied on relational file structures (Pangalos, 1994) and today have progressed into the use of this communications standard to allow for full transaction support of tables regardless of where the database is actually residing. SQL Server 2005 has progressed to support constraint solution workflows, transforming into being a platform for knowledge management as well. When a database has a high degree of ACID compliance it is possible to create a thorough audit trail of the values that have been written to the field, record, and table level. ACID compliance allows the military to understand how their supply chains are functioning and also creates an audit trail in the process, ensuring the data stays secure. In conjunction with these changes in the agility of database architectures to support more relational data structures, there has been an increase in programming languages as well. The use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) in conjunction with secured XML is now becoming commonplace in many government and military implementations. All of these enterprise classes of applications rely on multi-platform integration through the use of XML, in conjunction with support for queries using SQL. On the one hand this ensure a high level of cross-system security, and on the other, it complicates the integration process between these systems. These factors are implemented at the enterprise level, both in government and commercial implementations. Server security at the user level is also now defined through the use of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) that define in enterprise-level terms which fields, records and files can be accessed by any given user. As a result programmers efforts to solve increasingly complex logic and process problems in organizations are acting as a major catalyst of change in the SQL Server 2005 platform. The unmet need many organizations have is for database servers that can align with their existing processes, yet also stay agile enough to change as those processes change. Summary The area of database security is accelerating due to the increased sophistication of secured XML, the use of SOA platforms (Fontana, 2005) and the developed of more roles-based applications that selectively query and use database information. Oracle developed the first enterprise-class authentication servers that act as security clearinghouses, interpolating access rights from the user s identifier and dynamically assigning which database files and fields they have access to through a series of authentication algorithms (Pangalos, 1994).
Common topics in this essay:
SQL Server,
ACID Compliance,
Fundamentals Databases,
Encryption Protecting,
Oracle Sybase,
Gonsoulin Walz,
Coulthard Yan,
XML SOA,
Security Introduction,
SQL Text,
sql server,
acid compliance,
access control,
authentication access,
sql server 2005,
authentication access control,
server 2005,
server security,
database security,
secured xml,
database connection security,
security data,
stored procedures,
compliance database connection,
connection security encryption,
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