What is a database?
Do You Need One?

• What is a database?

• Database definition:

A database is a collection of data organized into files having a specialized structure. This very structure is what allows the data in a database to be easily and quickly stored and retrieved.

As a webmaster building an affiliate marketing business website, you generally only need a database when you reach the point of having enough information for instance your customer lists that you need to structure in some way. For example, if you only have 10 names and addresses to store, you're probably better off without a database. Similarly, if you have a bunch of unrelated data, maintaining a database might be too much hassle to be worth your time.

• A database needs maintenance.

Like any other complex system, a database has to be designed properly from the get go in order to be useful and then kept tuned up to keep performance high. Not maintaining your data base will lead to a gradually more and more disorganized system which is difficult to use and slow to retrieve data from.

The three most common databases used for websites today are MySQL, MS SQL Server and Access. With all of these, it's relatively easy to set up a database. Just by following the instructions, even a person with limited technical skills can get one running. However, how the system should be organized and maintained should be considered at this time.

Let's say that you have a customer list: names, addresses, email, items purchased, date purchased and amount of sale. If there's only a couple of dozen such records, it doesn't matter too much how this data is organized. In fact, this is probably not a good use for a database. However, once you have thousands such records, how it is organized does matter quite a bit. The ease of adding more attributes and speed of retrieval are important at this stage of the game.

• Do you need technical skills to manage a database?

Even people with little to no technical skills, but a little common sense and a willingness to plan ahead can build a very good database. Think for a minute about how you would organize a set of information (called a "table" in a database). Would you put everything in the same table? Or would it be better to place personal information in one table and product information in another?

You may need to tinker with it a little to get things the way that you want them, but these kinds of choices are important in determining how easy it will be to maintain your database. It also impacts how quickly other programs can find the data stored there, as well as add new data to the database.

This also adds a new set of duties for the administrator of the server, since backups work a bit differently in databases due to the specialized file structure. Recovering from a database backup is a little more complex as well. You should ask your web hosting provider what their database capabilities are before deciding on a database system. Of course you first have to understand what is a database, the different types of database is and what you can be able to do with them before taking matters to your own hands.

Having a database does make a little more work and add complexity to your system. You may even need the assistance of a professional at some point. But the advantages far outweigh the costs for those who have a large volume of data to store and retrieve. At some point, a database may be something which your company has grown into.

• Read more on what is a database here