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Designing databases
The first step in creating a relational database is to construct a data model, which is a precise, complete definition of the data you want to store. After you prepare your data model, you must implement it as a database and tables. To implement your data model, you first select a data type for each column and then you create a database and tables and populate the tables with data. You can also implement fragmentation strategies and control access to your data.
Designing and Implementing a Database
The Informix® Database Design and Implementation Guide provides information to help you design, implement, and manage your Informix databases. It includes data models that illustrate different approaches to database design and shows you how to use structured query language (SQL) to implement and manage your databases.
Basics of database design and implementation
Implement a relational data model
Populate the database
Perform bulk-load operations

Designing databases
The first step in creating a relational database is to construct a data model, which is a precise, complete definition of the data you want to store. After you prepare your data model, you must implement it as a database and tables. To implement your data model, you first select a data type for each column and then you create a database and tables and populate the tables with data. You can also implement fragmentation strategies and control access to your data.
- Designing and Implementing a Database
  The Informix® Database Design and Implementation Guide provides information to help you design, implement, and manage your Informix databases. It includes data models that illustrate different approaches to database design and shows you how to use structured query language (SQL) to implement and manage your databases.

Perform bulk-load operations

Inserting hundreds or thousands of rows goes much faster if you turn off transaction logging. Logging these insertions makes no sense because, in the event of a failure, you can easily re-create the lost work. The following list contains the steps of a large bulk-load operation:

If any chance exists that other users are using the database, exclude them with the DATABASE EXCLUSIVE statement.
Ask the administrator to turn off logging for the database.
The existing logs can be used to recover the database in its present state, and you can run the bulk insertion again to recover those rows if they are lost.
Perform the statements or run the utilities that load the tables with data.
Back up the newly loaded database.
Either ask the administrator to perform a full or incremental backup or use the onunload utility to make a binary copy of your database only.
Restore transaction logging and release the exclusive lock on the database.