Normal forms

Normalization is an integral part of the relational database design process and can be employed to reorganize a database to minimize and avoid inconsistency and redundancy.

The different normal forms organizes administrator information so that it promotes efficient maintenance, storage, and data modification. Normalization simplifies query and update management, including the security and integrity of the database. However, normalization usually creates a larger number of tables which may, in turn, increase the size of the database.

Database designers and administrators must decide on the various techniques best suited their environment.