Teradata Certification "If you want to have the potential to be rich then get a medical degree, a law degree

or pass the six Teradata Certification Tests!" Tera-Tom Coffing There are six Teradata Certification tests and they are listed below. Pass all six tests makes you a Teradata Certified Master. You will be on a Teradata Master Email list where you can post or answer questions from every Teradata Certified Master around the globe. To take a Teradata test you sign up online at Prometric.com. Once at the website Prometric.com then select the hyperlink "Schedule a Test". You will be taken to a 3-step menu. Select Information Technology as your AREA of STUDY. Select NCR Teradata as the TESTING PROGRAM. Fill in your location of STATE and COUNTRY and then select NCR Teradata again and pick the test you want to take. You will be given TEST SITE locations to choose from and make an appointment to take your examination.

Teradata: Brilliant by Design "The man who has no imagination has no wings." Muhammad Ali Teradata allows for maximum flexibility in selecting and using data and it therefore can be designed to represent a business and its practices. Most database vendors designed their databases around Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) where they already knew the questions. Teradata is designed for Decision Support where different questions arise every day. Teradata is always ready to perform even as your environment and users change and grow.

The Teradata database was originally designed in 1976, and it has been floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee ever since. It is the Muhammad Ali of data warehousing because parallel processing is pretty and definitely "The Greatest" computer invention ever. Teradata was founded on mathematical set theory. Teradata is easy to understand and allows customers to model the business.

The founders of Teradata believed in th e Napoleon Bonaparte philosophy that stated, "The word impossible is not in my dictionary." The Teradata founders set two primary goals when they designed Teradata which were: Perform parallel processing Accommodate Terabytes of data

In 1984, the DBC/1012 was introduced. Since then, Teradata has been the dominant force in data warehousing.

The Teradata Parallel Architecture

"Fall seven times, stand up eight." --Japanese Proverb Teradata never falls, but it can stand up to incredible amounts of work because of parallel processing. Most databases crumble under the extreme pressures of data warehousing. Who could blame them with thousands of users, each asking a different question on Terabytes of data? Most databases were born for OLTP processing, while Teradata was born to be parallel. While most databases fall and dont get up Teradata remains outstanding and ready for more. Teradata has been parallel processing from the beginning which incredibly dates back to 1979 and is still the only database that loads data in parallel, backs-up data in parallel and processes data in parallel. The idea of parallel processing gives Teradata the ability to have unlimited users, unlimited power, and unlimited scalability. So, what is parallel processing? Here is a great analogy.

It was 12 a.m. on a Saturday night and two friends were out on the town. One of the friends looked at his watch and said, "I have to get going." The other friend responded, "Whats the hurry?" His friend went on to tell him that he had to leave to do his laundry at the Laundromat. The other friend could not believe his ears. He responded, "What! Youre leaving to do your laundry on a Saturday night? Why dont you do it tomorrow?". His buddy went on to explain that there were only 10 washing machines at the laundry. "If I wait until tomorrow, it will be crowded and I will be lucky to get one washing machine. I have 10 loads of laundry, so I will

be there all day. If I go now, nobody will be there, and I can do all 10 loads at the same time. Ill be done in less than an hour and a half."

This story describes what we call "Parallel Processing". Teradata was born to be parallel, and instead of allowing just 10 loads of wash to be done simultaneously, Teradata allows for hundreds even thousands of loads to be done simultaneously.
A Logical View of the Teradata Architecture

"Kites rise highest against the wind not with it." Sir Winston Churchill Many of the largest data warehouses in the world are on Teradata. Teradata provides customers a centrally located architecture. This provides a single version of the truth and it minimizes synchronization. Having Teradata on your side is a sure win-ston. If Churchill had been a data warehouse expert, he would agree that most data warehouses eventually receive the blitz and stop working while Teradata has the strength from parallel processing to "never give up". Many data warehouse environments have an architecture that is not designed for decision support, yet companies often wonder why their data warehouse failed. The winds of business change can be difficult and starting with the right database is the biggest key to rising higher.

The user submits SQL to the Parsing Engine (PE). The PE checks the syntax and then the security and comes up with a plan for the AMPs. The PE communicates with the AMPs across the BYNET. The AMPs act on the data rows as needed and required.
The BYNET

"Not all who wander are lost." J. R. R. Tolkien The BYNET is the communication network between AMPs and PEs. Data and communication never wanders and is never lost. How well does the BYNET know communication? It is the lord of the things! How often does the PE pass the plan to the AMPs over the BYNET? Every time it makes it a hobbit! The PE passes the PLAN to the AMPs over the BYNET. The AMPs then retrieve the data from their disks and pass it to the PE over the BYNET. The BYNET provides the communications between AMPs and PEs so no matter how large the data warehouse physically gets, the BYNET makes each AMP and PE think that they are

right next to one another. The BYNET gets its name from the Banyan tree. The Banyan tree has the ability to continually plant new roots to grow forever. likewise, the BYNET scales as the Teradata system grows in size. The BYNET is scalable. There are always two BYNETs for redundancy and extra bandwidth. AMPs and PEs can use both BYNETs to send and retrieve data simultaneously. What a network! The PE checks the users SQL Syntax; The PE checks the users security rights; The PE comes up with a plan for the AMPs to follow; The PE passes the plan along to the AMPs over the BYNET; The AMPs follow the plan and retrieve the data requested;

The AMPs pass the data to the PE over the BYNET; and The PE then passes the final data to the user.

What is a Relational Data Model? A Relational Data Model is a defined number of tables, made up of columns and rows, which represent a situation. Heres an example: Teradata stores its information inside Tables. A table consists of rows and columns. A row is one instance of all columns. According to relational concepts column positions are arbitrary and a column always contains like data. Teradata does not care what order you define the columns and Teradata does not care about the order of rows in a table. Rows are arbitrary also, but once a row format is established then Teradata will use that format because a Teradata table can have only one row format. There are many benefits of not requiring rows to be stored in order. Unordered data does not have to be maintained to preserve the order. Unordered data is independent of the query.

Primary Keys are Different than Primary Indexes The Primary Key of a table is the column or group of columns whose values will identify uniquely each row of that table.

Every table has to have a primary key and only one

Tables are very flexible when it comes to defining how a tables data can be laid out. However, every table must have a primary key. Each row within that table must always be uniquely identifiable. If the table happens to have several possible combinations that could work as a primary key, only one can be chosen. You cannot have more than one primary key on a table. The smallest group of columns, often just one, is usually the best.

Foreign Keys A foreign key is a normal column in one table that happens to be a primary key in another table. Foreign keys help to relate tables together. This is where the term relational database comes from.

Primary Key Foreign Key Quiz Below you see the Department Table and the Employee Table. They have a relation. How many Primary Key Foreign Key relationships do these two tables have together? Remember that a Foreign Key is a normal column in one table that is the Primary Key of another table (Hint Hint)

Primary Key Foreign Key Quiz Answers There are two Primary Key Foreign Key relationships between the tables below. The first relationship is the Primary Key of the Department Table which is Dept_No. Dept_No is a normal column in the Employee_Table. Notice that they have the same exact names. The second Primary Key Foreign Key relationship is the Employee_No of the Employee Table and the Mgr_No of the Department Table. Notice that they have different names. They are though said to be part of the same domain. That means that both columns have the same data type, the same range of values and represent the same thing. Both represent Employee_Nos. In the Employee Table all Employee_Nos are listed. In the Department Table only the Employee_Nos for Managers are listed. The Primary Index

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."

Helen Keller
Helen Keller may have been blind, but she saw so much more then the rest of us. Can you imagine living in a world of such darkness, yet becoming such a shining light? Helen Keller was the ultimate leader and she helped millions realize that they should continue to always learn, and that the journey of life is the ultimate destination. Teradata uses the Primary Index of each table to provide a row its destination to the proper AMP. This is why each table in Teradata is required to have a Primary Index. The biggest key to a great Teradata Database Design begins with choosing the correct Primary Index. The Primary Index will determine on which AMP a row will reside.

Because this concept is extremely important, let me state again that the Primary Index value for a row is the only thing that will determine on which AMP a row will reside. Many people new to Teradata assume that the most important concept concerning the Primary Index is data distribution. INCORRECT! The Primary Index does determine data distribution, but even more importantly, the Primary Index provides the fastest physical path to retrieving data. The Primary Index also plays an incredibly important role in how joins are performed. Remember these three important concepts of the Primary Index and you are well on your way to a great Physical Database Design.

The Primary Index plays 3 roles: Data Distribution Fastest Way to Retrieve Data Incredibly important for Joins
What needs to be known prior to selecting the Primary Index to ensure excellent distribution? Columns that define the index. If they are unique or nearly unique then Teradata will spread the data evenly. Two Types of Primary Indexes (UPI or NUPI)

"A man who chases two rabbits catches none."

Roman Proverb
Every table must have at least one column as the Primary Index. The Primary Index is defined when the table is created. There are only two types of Primary Indexes, which are a Unique Primary Index (UPI) or a Non-Unique Primary Index (NUPI).

"A man who chases two rabbits misses both by a HARE! A person who chases two Primary Indexes misses both by an ERR!"
Tera-Tom Proverb

Every table must have one and only one Primary Index. Because Teradata distributes the data based on the Primary Index columns value it is quite obvious that you must have a primary index and that there can be only one primary index per table. The Primary index is the Physical Mechanism used to retrieve and distribute data. The primary index is limited to the number of columns in the primary index. This means that the primary index is comprised totally of all the columns in the primary index. You can have up to 16 multi-column keys comprising your primary index or as little as one column as your primary index.. Most databases use the Primary Key as the physical mechanism. Teradata uses the Primary Index. There are two reasons you might pick a different Primary Index then your Primary Key. They are (1) for Performance reasons and (2) known access paths.

A Table can only have one primary index, but that Primary Index can consist of a single column or a combination of columns. With V2R5 and V2R6 up to 64 columns.