Designing a database requires an understanding of both the business functions you want to model and the database concepts and features used to represent those business functions.

It is important to accurately design a database to model the business because it can be time consuming to change the design of a database significantly once implemented. A well-designed database also performs better.

When designing a database, consider:

• The purpose of the database and how it affects the design. Create a database plan to fit your purpose.
  
  
• Database normalization rules that prevent mistakes in the database design.
  
  
• Protection of your data integrity.
  
  
• Security requirements of the database and user permissions.
  
  
• Performance needs of the application. You must ensure that the database design takes advantage of Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 features that improve performance. Achieving a balance between the size of the database and the hardware configuration is also important for performance.
  
  
• Maintenance.
  
  
• Estimating the size of a database.