Data has a life
A club list is made in January. In March it moves to a new system. By summer it is shared with a partner. Next year it is archived. Later it must be destroyed.
Data is not just stored. It lives through stages, and each stage has its own jobs and risks.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Life cycle | The stages data goes through, from its start to its end. | Make, use, archive, destroy |
| Dataset | A collection of related data kept together. | The member list |
| Database | A store of organised data that a program can search. | A member table |
| Data model | A plan of what data is held and how the parts connect. | Members link to loans |
| Migration | Moving data reliably from one system to another. | Old sheet to a new database |
| Governance | The rules and checks for how data is handled. | Who may edit the list |
| Access control | Granting or removing a person's access to data. | A new helper gets read access |
| Version control | Keeping and recording each version of a dataset. | Version 3, 1 March |
| Retention policy | A rule for how long data is kept, to meet law and business needs. | Keep for six years |
| Backup | A spare copy kept so data can be restored after a loss. | A nightly copy |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can name the preparation and operations stages of the data life cycle and say what happens in each.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Stage one: preparation
| Part | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Choose the dataset type and data model for the need | A table of members and loans |
| Migration | Move data reliably from one source to another | Old sheet to new database |
| Creation or acquisition | Make the data, or get it from a third party, with consent for use | A sign-up form with consent |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Stage two: operations
| Part | What it means |
|---|---|
| Governance: access control | Grant or remove access when it is right to |
| Governance: security and privacy | Keep data safe and secure |
| Governance: version control | Keep and record each version |
| Governance: retention policy | Follow the legal and business keep time |
| Storage, usage, maintenance | Keep it, use it, tidy it |
| Share, backup, restoration | Pass it on, copy it, bring it back after a loss |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Try it: find the latest version
select dataset, max(version) as latest
from versions
group by dataset
order by dataset;
-- Try it: add max(saved_on) as saved to the list.A common mistake
Warning
Many people think a backup is the same as restoration. A backup is a copy. Restoration is the job of bringing it back. A backup you have never restored may not work. Test it.