Flix2You Proposal

BY

THE OPTIMISTICS INC.

DIVYA RUSTAGI, DANIELLE KLUNK, DON PHAN, TARUSH GAUR

100 WESTGATE BUILDING

STATE COLLEGE, PA
814-777-3130

FOR

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

IST 210
Section 003 WC
Professor: ROY JOHN
Submitted: AUG-09-2020

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………...................…3

2. Project Overview …………………………………………………………………….......................4

3. Project Management …………………………………………………………………....................5

a. Project Plan ………………………………………………………………….......................5
b. Project Resources and Budget ………………………………………..……................7
c. Roles and Responsibilities ……………………....................................……………...8
4. User Analysis ………………………………………………………………….....................………..9
a. Database Access …………………………………………………………….......................10
5. Organization of Data …………………………………………………………………...................11
a. Sample SQL statements …………………………………..........................................12
6. Database Administration ……………………………………………………………..................15
a. Roles and Responsibilities..........................................................................15
b. Database Backup and Recovery..................................................................16
c. Data Access Security....................................................................................17
d. Dataload......................................................................................................19

7. Database Dashboard and Analytics ………………………………………………….............20

8. Legal Issues ……………………………………………………………………………....................25

9. References ……………………………………………………………………………......................28

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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Optimistics is excited to help Flix2You in improving their business strategy.

Flix2You is working in a field where the technology is ever-changing, and the
competitors are growing day by day. They have recently realized that their growth as a
company is on the decline. To ensure they can stay up to par to compete with their
competitors like Netflix, Blockbuster, and Redbox, they must understand their data
better to make more knowledgeable business decisions. The goal of the given proposal
will be to improve the current database structure of the company and to allow Flix2You
to become information-rich by adequately utilizing the immense data already collected
by the company.
The Optimistics has devised a strategic plan to assist Flix2You in expanding its current
operations by creating a database that helps the company deliver the desired outcomes.
Our goal is to assist Flix2You in their endeavors to mark the movie rental and streaming
market. This new database will help the company better understand its current
customers' needs and put the compiled data to increase company revenue by targeting
future customers.
This expansion will be built off Flix2You's website, database, and current customer base.
The company's website will be the foundation of our proposal. The customers will be
able to enjoy the benefits of the database that they will acquire from this proposal. We
aim to create a data repository that will allow for more straightforward queries and the
ease of applying proper analytics. The retrieval and use of this data will be controlled by
assigned tier-level access to create a checks and balances system and ensure appropriate
utilization of information to protect Flix2You customers' interests.
In addition to controlled access to data, our organization will also present solutions to
any potential legal issues. A newly developed Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions
will be implemented with our proposal. The new privacy policy will assure that the
customer's information will not be abused from sources outside the company and will
remain confidential.

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II. PROJECT OVERVIEW

Flix2You's current business model is renting physical copies of media, but higher
management is thinking of branching out into downloadable digital copies as an
additional service. They currently only offer movies but plan to provide other media
such as video games and applications. Flix2You is looking to organize current and future
data to grow their audience to determine what services would be most in demand.
Flix2You is currently running on an off-brand database that does not hold up to current
standards. Our team at The Optimistics is ready to provide you with a top-notch
database that is not only cutting edge but also simplistic.
Our first step is a consultation with the Flix2You management team to determine
precisely what kind of data they would like to keep. This will provide critical insight into
how the new database will progress. An updated Entity Relationship Diagram will
include the addition of new categories of data and the retraction of useless data. This
can be accessed in the Organization of Data section as well as more information on
how we plan to catalog every piece of data that we collect.
Our next step is to determine a possible technological upgrade. An updated database
will require either a hardware upgrade to process the data or renting cloud space. The
things to determine expected the quantity of data (bytes), how long Flix2You plans to
store the data, the cost to rent cloud space, and the price to upgrade current servers. The
specifics will be addressed in the Project Resources and Budget section.
Flix2You will require a user end dashboard so anyone can use it with minimal training.
While our focus is a desktop format, a tablet format will also be required. Designing a
user end application will require taking a couple of things in mind. We will determine a
user access hierarchy to determine who gets access to what data to prevent information
overload. We want everyone to be able to focus on their task without getting concerned
about other team members. The dashboard's basic design will prioritize minimalism to
cut down training time while maximizing ease of use. This will be demonstrated in the
Database Dashboard and Analytics section.
Once we have established the database, The Optimistics will send our best people to
keep the database running smoothly. We have taken into consideration: security risks,
legal aspects, and data back-up/recovery. Find more information on those in their
corresponding sections.
Flix2You is a well-established company that has missed out on so much data already.
Data acquisition has been in use for decades but has only begun to take flight in the last
decade truly. The world is evolving, and we at The Optimistics are well equipped to
guide the Flix2You team to its highest potential.

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III. PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project Plan
Table 3.1: Gantt Chart

To help Flix2You achieve company goals and develop an efficient database, our project
will follow a plan which consists of four phases- Analysis, Development,
Implementation, and Sign Off. Each phase is defined by specific goals and deliverables
which will mark progress for the company.
The analysis phase is when our team evaluates Flix2You’s current database model and
proposes solutions to existing problems. During this time, we will meet with your team
and discuss their views on what is currently working and what is not. We will then do an
expert analysis of your model to find what may be causing issues in your system. Once
this is done, we will begin to design a new database structure and order the necessary
materials for development.
The development phase is when we begin to build upon our proposal developed in the
analysis phase. This is when we build tables and start the code to create queries, reports,
and web pages. During this phase, we will load test data to ensure our model works
effectively for Flix2You needs. This way, the company knows the database works
appropriately without risking company data.
The implementation phase will consist of setting up the database server and
environment. Our team will adjust Flix2You’s database and load data into the new
model without affecting integrity. Once data is implemented into the new design, we will
test data load and begin scheduling maintenance such as backups. This is also when we
will train Flix2You employees on how to use the new model effectively.

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 Finally, the sign off phase will ensure Flix2You employees are comfortable using the
database. During this time, our workers will stay to help with any bugs and assist with
any problems employees may be having. At the end of this phase, we will regroup with
Flix2You's business team to finish any remaining reports.

Resources and Budget

The two major resources needed in order to complete this project effectively are the
hardware components and our team, who will assemble them. In this section, we
address the upfront costs of these assets to help you analyze your options.
Table 3.2: Labor Costs
Name Role Cost Projected Hours Total Cost
Danielle Klunk Project Manager $74/hour 500 $37, 000
Database
Don Phan $37/hour 500 $18, 500
Administrator
Divya Rustagi Data Analyst $34/hour 400 $13, 600
Divya Rustagi Quality Assurance $32/hour 300 $9, 600
Tarush Gaur Programmer $57/hour 300 $17, 100
Total $95, 800

Table 3.3: Hardware Costs

Component Model Pricing
HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen10 5220 2P 64GB-R
CPU $4,969.99
P408i-a NC 8SFF 800W RPS Server
Database
Windows SQL Server 2019 $7,128
Servers
• For C-Drive: SAMSUNG 860DCT MZ-
76E960E 2.5" 960GB SATA III V-NAND $176.99
3-bit MLC Enterprise Solid State Drive,
Bulk – OEM
Cloud and
• 2 X 4TB My Cloud Expert Series EX2 2 X $329.99
Local Storage
Ultra from WD
• Azure Hybrid – 1 Year Reserved $1,163.33 / Mo
(discount applied)

Memory HP 16GB Dual Rank x4 DDR4 RAM $92.24

Operating
Windows Server 2019 Standard CAL $1,528.00
System
$15, 718.53 one-time
Total $1,163.33 recurring
monthly

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Roles and Responsibilities
Project Manager: Danielle Klunk
As Project Manager, Danielle will be ensuring that the team is adhering to the project
plan and budget as stated above. In order to keep tasks on schedule, Danielle organizes
regular meetings with our team and ensures they are producing the desired results. She
also ensures that team members are communicating properly with each other so that
everyone is up to date on the project. It is her goal to not only deliver the best product to
you, but to do so quickly, inexpensively, and sustainably.
Database Administrator: Don Phan
The role of the database administrator is to have complete oversight on the design of the
database. This means that Don will play a crucial role throughout the project to make
your new design fit all of Flix2You’s business needs. Don will also be in charge of
planning future data needs such as back-up and restoration and ensure that your data
remains secure as we transfer it to our model. With Don’s work, you’ll know that your
data retains its integrity.
Data Analyst: Divya Rustagi

The Data Analyst’s main goal is to help you understand your data. To do so, Divya’s role
will be heavily emphasized during our analysis and development phases. This way, she
can identify the uses your current data may have so she can develop reports to turn your
knowledge into information. The reports she generates will then serve as a model for
future reports for your company.
Quality Assurance: Divya Rustagi
Divya will also be working in Quality Assurance. In this position, she will analyze each
step of the project before the team continues to the next phase. This will allow her to
ensure all work maintains the professional standard of The Optimistics organization.
She will review all forms of code and proposals to prevent any security risks or errors in
the database. With her aid, our team can deliver a bug free product.
Programmer: Tarush Gaur
Our programmer, Tarush, bears the responsibility to ultimately code the database and
its management system. In this process, he will not only write but test proposed
programs to determine what will fit best with Flix2You. Tarush will also be compiling
sample SQLs and reports for your company so it is easier to train your employees on
how to use the database.

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IV. USER ANALYSIS

The users of the new Flix2You Database fall into five categories- administrative
personnel, midlevel managers, data entry operators, hourly warehouse employees, and
customers. The first four categories are all employees of the company and will have
some form of read and write access, whereas the customers will only ever add their data
when creating an account or performing a transaction over the website. Because current
Flix2You employees don’t have much experience with databases, we recommend adding
hired positions such as the Database Administrator and the Data Entry Operator to aide
in day to day servicing and entry.
Database Administrator
This position has full control of the entire database and is responsible for upkeep and
fixing errors. This is the only position that access to all data, and can insert, update, and
delete anything that may be necessary. The main purpose for this position is to head
regular backups and restoration procedures as well as delegate and update access.
Administration
The administrative personnel have more of an overhead view of the company. This
branch of employees would primarily focus on reports to analyze how the company is
progressing. Some examples of reports you may need would be on what movies are
selling more than others, what locations have more traffic in your company, what areas
are lacking, etc. With this data, they can update what movies Flix2You is offering and
change advertising methods. They would not necessarily need explicit writing access on
the database because any change of stock they make can be entered by midlevel
managers or the data entry department.
Mid-level Management
The midlevel managers are meant to oversee and ease warehouse operations. This may
mean handling special transactions whenever there may be damage or a refund.
However, it would also be beneficial for them to receive reports on their workers such as
how many shipments took place in the past month, how many were damaged, how many
had customer complaints, how many refunds were needed. For this, they would also
need read access.
Data Entry Operator
These workers are specially trained in working with data entry in databases and will
oversee updating customer data daily. By having a worker update customer accounts
and transactions regularly rather than relying on batch updates in the system, you are
less likely to lose data. These workers would also update info as it pertains to warehouse
operations and logistics, such as customer name, shipping information, and what is
included in the order. They would also be responsible for adding information about new
movies they have in stock, including adding descriptions and the cast list. This would

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require them to have access to write within these data categories, however, they would
only need read access to information about stocks.
Hourly Employees
The hourly wage warehouse employees are responsible for organizing shipments and
sending the right movies and discs to the right address for the customer. In order to
complete these tasks efficiently, these workers must have the ability to quickly find
customer information as well as update important product information. An example of
information they’d need to access quickly would include customer names, addresses,
movies in shipment, and time at which it must be delivered. These workers would be
updating data including, but not limited to quantities in stock, whether the order was
shipped or returned, and any damage to the product. For this reason, these workers
would need both read and write access to limited areas of the database.
Customers
While customers won’t have access to the data within the database itself, their data will
be inserted from the website. Thus, there must be a way in which customer data is
included into the database without customers having direct access. Customers will enter
their data into a separate database and the data entry operator will manually enter that
data into our main database in order to maintain access security. All customer data will
be double checked by the database administrator for data integrity.

Database Access
Access to the information in the database should be hierarchal in order to protect the
needs of the company and security of the customers.
Warehouse employees should only have access to customer information when it is
relevant to the shipment they are preparing, but not at any other time. Warehouse
employees may have access to reading and updating movie information and conditions
to ensure the products maintain a high quality.
Data entry operators will have write access to customer information and new
transaction information. This will allow them to send orders to the warehouse to be
shipped. They will also be able to update attributes for movies whenever a new film is
being offered to customers. The only read access they will have access to is that of
stocks.
Meanwhile, mid-level managers may have more access to customer information, such as
transaction history, in addition to the same access that warehouse employees will have.
The administration will have access to read all data, but only few will have the ability to
edit the data.
Higher levels in the hierarchy can change access privileges for lower levels. For instance,
midlevel managers can grant more access for warehouse employees, and administrators
can do the same for managers in special circumstances.

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V. ORGANIZATION OF DATA

Our goal at The Optimistics is to make sure that we are providing you with the most
effective and efficient database solution. After a detailed diagnosis and survey of your
current database model, we found out that while your database is working, a significant
number of upgrades can be done to improve efficiency. Following this discovery, we
have decided that the best option for Flix2You will be to upgrade the current database
system. With our new proposal, we will make sure that the new database model is user
friendly and consistent. We also plan to reduce the server downtime with this new
implementation.
Some of the concerns of the company regarding the current database are as follows:
• Significant load times for transaction queries
• Pulling wrong information from proper queries
• Information being lost from tables without explanation
• Excessive data redundancy
• Consistent instability and downtime
The current concern of the Flix2You company is that it is difficult for them to perform
queries and understand the data in the current database. This problem can be mitigated
by adequately choosing relations between keys and tables. To make tables more user
friendly and understandable in the database, we will be creating intuitive table names
and entities and clearly defined relationships that will help the administrators develop
and maintain the database. Flix2You requires a database that is easily queried and
analyzable. This will extend to maintaining information that is more readable and easily
understood. To meet the company's needs, we plan to upgrade and streamline its
current database model. This will include updating their tables and entity relationships.
We also plan to discard unused tables while covering more useful tables to help create a
recommendation-based model that will surpass competitors in watch-time.
Data Redundancy in the current database is making the database run slower and is
causing inconsistency across tables. To reduce data redundancy, we will normalize the
tables in the database to the third normal form- 3NF. By reducing to the third normal
form, we add more tables to eliminate both partial and transitive dependencies. The
following are the expected outcomes of the normalization process:
• Eliminating data redundancy and inconsistency
• Easing data management
• Simplifying tables to describe smaller portions of data

In addition to normalization, it will also be necessary to add some tables to make

efficient reports of customer data. Some data being added includes tables such as

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customer_rating, recommendations, recommendation_categories and attributes such
as date-released-onF2Y. Adding these tables will make it easier to generate reports to
understand customers' feelings about the company. By adding ratings and
recommendations, the company can track what customers seem to like and suggest
purchases to make browsing convenient. The date-released-onF2Y attribute is intended
to better track a movie’s success on the website, and how it may affect its status. We are
also deleting the store location table since there are no longer physical stores for the
company.
Below is the product of our normalization process and the addition of some tables we
deemed necessary for reporting.
Diagram 5.1: Proposed ERD

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Sample SQL STATEMENTS
/*recommendations*/
CREATE TABLE recommendations (
Recommendation_id int IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
Account_id int NOT NULL,
Movie_id int NOT NULL,
Recommendation_category_id int NOT NULL,
Length_watched varchar(8) NOT NULL,
Percentage_watched int NOT NULL);
INSERT INTO recommendations VALUES(1, 1, 1, 1, 01:28:54, 85%);

/*Movie_pricing_availability*/
CREATE TABLE movie_pricing_availability(
Movie_id int IDENTITY (1,1) NOT NULL,
Condition_code int NOT NULL,
Format_type_code int NOT NULL,
Rental_daily_rate money NOT NULL,
Sale_price money NOT NULL,
Number_in_stock int NOT NULL);
INSERT INTO movie_pricing_availability VALUES( 1, 1, 1, 1, 2.14, 28.00, 54);

/*Customer Rating*/
CREATE TABLE customer_rating(
Customer_rating_id int IDENTITY (1,1) NOT NULL,
Rating_description char(48) NOT NULL);
INSERT INTO customer_rating VALUES(1, ‘did not like at all’);
INSERT INTO customer_rating VALUES(2, ‘was okay, would not recommend’);
INSERT INTO customer_rating VALUES(3, ‘about average’);
INSERT INTO customer_rating VALUES(4, ‘pretty good, will recommend’);

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INSERT INTO customer_rating VALUES(5, ‘amazing, enjoyable’);

/*create primary keys, foreign keys and eliminate repeating data*/

ALTER TABLE recommendations ADD CONSTRAINT pk_rec PRIMARY KEY
(recommendation_id);
ALTER TABLE recommendations ADD CONSTRAINT fk_account_id FOREIGN KEY
(account_id);
ALTER TABLE recommendations ADD CONSTRAINT fk_movie_id FOREIGN
KEY(movie_id);
ALTER TABLE recommendations ADD CONSTRAINT
fk_recommendations_category_id FOREIGN KEY (recommendations_category_id);
ALTER TABLE recommendations ADD CONSTRAINT fk_customer_rating_id
FOREIGN KEY(customer_rating_id);
ALTER TABLE movies_available DELETE rental_daily_rate;
ALTER TABLE movies_available DELETE sale_price;
ALTER TABLE movies_available DELETE number_in_stock;
ALTER TABLE customer_rating ADD CONSTRAINT pk_customer_rating_id
PRIMARY KEY(customer_rating_id);

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VI. DATABASE ADMINISTRATION

The Optimistics recommend a DBMS plan that will adapt to Flix2You's current
operations. To facilitate such database operations, Flix2You will need to hire a Database
Administrator (DBA) to oversee and control the centralized and shared database. The
DBA will be responsible for defining and enforcing data administration policies,
procedures, and standards, hence taking on a line position role.
Database Administrator will require knowledge in broadly two domains – technical and
managerial, to facilitate an efficient data administration. Desired managerial skills
include a broad understanding of the business, excellent coordination, conflict
resolution, communication (verbal and written), and negotiation skills. Desired
technical skills include a strong knowledge of data-processing and broad understanding
of the latest database technologies, particularly Microsoft Azure Hybrid with Windows
SQL Server, excellent database design and modeling skills, and exceptional operations
skills for efficient database implementation, robust security measures and application
development.
Roles and Responsibilities of Database Administrator
The Database Administrator (DBA) will have maximum access to all the data in our
operational database, including the ability to create, modify, and delete relationships
and data within the database tables. They will be responsible for overseeing all parts of
the database, including access to all information. The DBA will sign a contract stating
their obligation to keep the data within the company and have maximum security for the
database access with a strong password requirement.
Upper-level management will have access to everything on a dashboard view, but all
changes pertaining to the relationships within the database displayed on the dashboard
must be approved by the Database Administrator to prevent data conflicts,
redundancies, and security vulnerability. For instance, we would not want the Customer
Transaction History other than Transaction ID to be put in the Customers table and
expose sensitive information about the Customer to hourly employee-level accounts.
Similarly, the Database Administrator entails a clause stating that the DBA cannot
generate new tables without prior approval from the upper-level management, who will
oversee making all business decisions. The DBA is solely responsible for maintaining the
database in line with the company policies set by upper-level management and does
NOT have any right over the company's business direction.
DBA's role will primarily uphold the data's technical integrity, while upper-level
management gets full access to this data to create and modify any business decisions.

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Primary responsibilities of the Database Administrator (DBA) are as follows:
• Install and configure the hardware and set up the new database.
• Create, modify, and delete relationships and/or data as per the need of upper-
level management.
• Create appropriate dashboards for all levels of management.
• Ensure data integrity and use best database design practices to uphold an
efficient RDBMS for easy and fast querying.
• Run regular maintenance checks, update drivers, and check of security
vulnerabilities.
• Approve data access requests from mid-level management
• Train upper-level management to create and maintain required dashboards

Database Backup and Recovery

The DBA must also ensure that data can be fully recovered in case of partial or total data
losses or loss of database integrity. Hence, the database administrator must devise a
robust database backup and recovery procedures to prevent substantial financial and
intellectual property losses.
We recommend two backup locations for Flix2You database operations – one local and
one cloud-based. Microsoft Azure is a pay-as-go option that comes packed with many
automatic backup features and Fail-over servers for disaster recovery with Windows
SQL Server 2019. For the local backup location, we recommend online storage based on
network-attached storage (NAS) to create a private cloud server for Flix2You operations.
The hardware for NAS can be housed inside the Flix2You headquarters to allow for
greater control over the data for immediate access. These measures will keep the data
accessible and allow for scalability as Flix2You grows its operations.
The Database Administrator will be responsible for monitoring and running multiple
backups on the database periodically. The current data in the Flix2You storage center
will be fully backed up on both backup locations and supplemented by an incremental
backup set daily for every change made since the last full backup. Since our
recommended backups require a fast and reliable internet connection, we have devised a
backup schedule to allow for a minimum load on the networks and fast uploads as
follows:

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Table 6.1: Proposed Backup Schedule
Time Period for
Backup Type Significance
Backup Cycles
Weekly full backups allow for a new
Frequency: Weekly, every
foundation for incremental backups
Full-Backups / Monday morning
to minimize backup size and
Data Dumps Duration: 4 – 6 hours
maximize retrieval speeds for
Times: 12 AM – 6 AM
restoring data.
Daily differential backups allow for
Frequency: Daily
Differential smaller incremental backups which
Duration: 2 – 4 hours
Backups upload new data since the last
Times: 10 PM – 2 AM
transaction.
Hourly transaction log backups
Frequency: Hourly allow for database recovery to a
Transaction
Duration: 15 – 30 minutes specific point in time by keeping a
Log Backups
Times: Business Hours history of every modification in the
database.

As database backup and recovery technologies advance and Flix2You grows its
operations to a large scale with thousands of users accessing and adding new data to
Flix2You’s database, we recommend investing in technologies that allow for concurrent
backups for differential and transactional log data. The database administrator must
keep up to date with such technologies and make database design choices to build a
future-proof database backup and recovery system.
All backup responsibilities, access, and privileges must remain with the database
administrator with a secure document containing access information shared with
Flix2You’s top-level management upon request. The private cloud-server will include an
ID scanner to allow access to the database administrator and any appointed
administrator for future expansion. The software shall be encrypted with multi-level
passwords to allow backups and restoration for the Flix2ou’s database.
The database administrator MUST recommend an insurance policy to provide financial
protection in the event of a database failure. Additionally, the database administrator is
responsible for testing and evaluating the backup and recovery procedures, designing
and modifying policies and standards, and enforcing these policies, procedures, and
standards to ensure a robust and secure database backup and recovery plan. Testing and
evaluations must be periodic and frequent, including fire-drills with support from top-
level management. We leave the schedule and execution steps up to the database
administrator and their discretion.

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Data Access and Security
Physical and logical isolation form the foundation of a secure SQL Server. Thus,
Flix2You database servers and workstations must be placed in a safe room accessible
only to authorized personnel such as the database administrator.
Database Administrator is responsible for ensuring that relevant data in the correct
format is accessible to its corresponding users upon request. We recommend that the
database administrator adopt the current data distribution philosophy, making it easy
for authorized users to access the database.
The DBA shall be responsible for training all end-users (i.e., all levels of management
and hourly wage employees) to use the database portals and relevant dashboards to read
and/or write relevant data, and informing the types of data they each will access. The
DBA MUST devise procedures and standards according to the kinds of data contained in
Flix2You’s database. Since this database will contain sensitive information about
customer transaction and financial details, the database administrator must set access
privilege appropriate to each level of access hierarchy and protect confidential
information accordingly.
The Database Administrator will be responsible for setting access privileges for each
level of user. The DBA shall set up all such accounts and set a unique temporary
password to secure the accounts. The information will then be shared with the
employees, and all employees must change this password accordingly to the password
guidelines set by the DBA.
We recommend that the database administrator set up the user accounts and access
privileges using a Domain Controller, particularly in Windows Domain, so that all
accesses can be centrally managed. However, the DBA must take all measures to protect
the domain controller as it can be a potential target to attack the Flix2You server. When
a user would log onto the workstation or the website portal, the domain controller would
authenticate this login based on the ‘user groups’ (accounts and its privileges) set by the
database administrator. As an additional layer of protection, the DBA may name the
user groups to more ambiguous terms or terms of management used within the
company to make it harder for an outsider to understand the hierarchy of access within
Flix2You’s database. For example, the DBA may set up an administrator-level account
but name it ‘sysMaster.’
Additionally, since Flix2You’s service is based on its website, the database administrator
shall work with the network administrator to set up firewalls to prevent any distributed
denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and close any holes in the server which may allow for a
third-party to gain access to Flix2You servers. This is a preventative measure on the top
of multilevel password protection for internal access to the database.

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While some of Flix2You’s employees have access to the backend database with read and
write privileges, all Flix2You warehouse and ground-level employees will have read-only
access to the database. The viewing shall be limited to specific logistical attributes such
as the movie name, address, and customer name. Similarly, top-level management users
shall have access to attributes relevant for aggregating the user’s data for reports and
understanding trends in Flix2You’s site visitors and traction. For example, suppose a
top-level manager wants to see the most rented movie title for the month. In that case,
they can view the customer’s purchase history and demographics, but not sensitive
information like their name, address, or financials. These viewing restrictions allow for a
higher productive flow of information within different levels of management in Flix2You
while maintaining the privacy of Flix2You’s userbase.
Any information within the Flix2You servers, database, or other data domains solely
belongs to Flix2You as a company. No individual within the company has rights over
this data, including the database administrator. Access privileges allow for a data flow to
help Flix2You grow as a company, and not benefit a sole individual within the
organization. Additionally, each employee shall agree to protect the sensitive
information of any or all customers and conform to legal consequences if they fail. Thus,
each employee within the company who interacts with this data at any level would
require signing a non-disclosure contract agreeing to these terms and conditions.
The database administrator has the sole responsibility of managing the data in the
Flix2You servers, devising and enforcing policies, standards, and procedures as per their
line position role, but does NOT have the authority to make business decisions for
Flix2You. The business decisions may solely fall under the part of a top-level
management employee, and the DBA will help provide data relevant to any business
decision made by them. Hence, while the database administrator has complete access to
all Flix2You’s data, they do NOT own or possess any right over it. Thus, the database
administrator must agree and sign a legal contract stating these policies to ensure that
Flix2You protects its customer data to the maximum and prevents it from being
misused.

Dataload
We recommend creating a new read-only database that will pull from the operational
database for hourly wage employees to access. This database will be utilized for
facilitating daily warehouse operations such as managing stock logistics, delivery, and
other housekeeping activities of Flix2You ground-level tasks. Any data that must be
updated, such as a quantity in stock for movie titles, shall be done by a data entry
operator. These updates shall be concurrent in the operational database to ensure the
accuracy of data within the database. The data entry operator shall only have access to
attributes relevant to logistical operations set by the Database Administrator.

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While the data will be updated in the system concurrently by the data entry operator,
these changes will not appear in the read-only database until three hours of making the
change. This will allow for any inaccuracies in the data to be examined and confirmed by
the data entry operator and maintain an accurate database to ensure a seamless
workflow within Flix2You’s warehouse operations.
The new read-only database will be subjected to testing and evaluation as per the
procedures and standards set by the database administrator. Updating the information
shall cause minimal interruptions in the regular operations as the new database would
be uploaded every three hours.

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VII. DATABASE DASHBOARD AND ANALYTICS

The Optimistics recommend an efficient database design, secure access, and a robust
database backup and recovery plan to achieve Flix2You’s goal to become data and
information-rich. To facilitate this goal further and reflect its impact on Flix2You’s
business operations, we have devised a database dashboard that will be accessible by
management and executives at Flix2You to gain a bird’s eye view of the data.
The dashboard will be easy to use and understand and will be information-rich.
Employees can view the dashboard on mobile devices and computers, export data to MS
Excel, print to PDF, and generate periodic reports. To meet the needs of such an internal
reporting and analysis plan, we recommend Microsoft PowerBI Pro. PowerBI Pro comes
packed with all essential visualization features and access to these visualizations on the
go using the Power BI Mobile app. It adds the ability to set permissions to distribute
findings to other employees inside and outside the company. This will future proof the
database dashboard as Flix2You expands its business internally and externally.
We recommend PowerBI as it is user-friendly due to its clean visuals and ability to run
queries on the database. Additionally, the user can access data at any given level with
the right access privileges and create dashboards as per their needs. However,
employees at Flix2You must be trained by the database administrator to utilize
PowerBI’s features to its fullest for their relevant requirements. Additionally, the
employees may need working knowledge with SQL to use queries and generate reports
for required metrics. All reports generated on PowerBI are interactive.
PowerBI quickly identifies relationships among the tables in the source database. This is
useful for understanding the database design without requiring in-depth knowledge like
the database administrator to do so and helps to generate reports with appropriate
metrics.
An example of an executive-level database dashboard is as follows:

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FIGURE 7.1: Executive dashboard

An example of a management-level database dashboard is as follows:

Figure 7.2: Management dashboard

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An example of hourly employees dashboard is as follows:
FIGURE 7.3: Warehouse dashboard

Examples of some useful reports and their corresponding SQL queries are as follows:
Which is the overall, most rented genre?
SELECT movie_title, genre_description, total_rentals
FROM movies_available
INNER JOIN genre_codes ON genre_codes.genre_codes =
genre_codes.movies_available
ORDER BY total_rentals DESC;

Which recommendations were 90% watched?

SELECT movie_id
FROM recommendations
WHERE percentage_watched > 0.90

Which recommendations were highly rated?

SELECT movie_id
FROM recommendations
WHERE customer_rating_id > 5

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VII. LEGAL ISSUES

Terms and Conditions

Flix2You is a movie rental company operating in all 50 States with in-store pickups and
shipping options. Flix2You has propriety rights over all its products, including the
movies DVD rented to its customer. In compliance with federal law, Flix2You defines
'customer' as any person who rents or buys any product and/or service from the
Flix2You website and/or our stores. Any customer engaging with Flix2You agrees to the
terms and conditions as follows:
Terms of service: Individuals must be at least 16 years old or reach the age of majority
as per the customer's residential State, to become a member of the Flix2You service.
Minors can access Flix2You under an adult's supervision.
Passwords: Flix2You requires each customer to have a safe, minimum six-digit
password to access their private account. Customers are advised not to share their secret
password with anyone.
Billing and Payment: Flix2You accepts all legal and payable forms of payments,
including, but not limited to, authorized credit cards, Debit cards, US Dollars, Apple
Pay, and Google Pay. The membership fee for the Flix2You service will be deducted
from each customer's chosen payment method on the fifth day of each month following
the first payment received. Customers are responsible for maintaining the service fee to
avoid any service interruption. If the payment is unable to be collected on the fifth day
of the month, the account will be terminated.
Refund policy: Flix2You offers a generous refund policy, allowing for 1-hour refunds
on our daily and weekly rentals. We offer these refunds as a way for customers to find
the movie. After those periods, however, we consider our rentals to be confirmed. We
will charge the full price of the rental to the credit/check payment and retain any cash
payment made for the rental. Any payments made will be retained by Flix2You after the
refund period expires, barring extenuating circumstances that will be handled by the
Flix2You support team or by in-store management.
Late fees: Flix2You will assess late fees for its rentals and charge 50% of the rental cost
per 24 hours that the rental hasn't been returned. These late fees are nonrefundable and
will be assessed to the customer's original payment method or deducted from their
account balance.
Caution: Customers agree not to reproduce, record, distribute, misuse Flix2You
products. Any pirating or any act of retaining a copy of a product rented from Flix2You
is strictly prohibited. Any violations of our policies will be referred to the appropriate
authorities.

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Violations of the Terms and Conditions, as stated above, may result in penalties such as
additional penalties or legal action taken against the customer by Flix2You or
appropriate authorities. These Terms and Conditions are subject to change at any time
by Flix2You; any changes will be emailed and updated on our website 48 hours before
the changes are going into effect.

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Privacy Policy
Our team at The Optimistics Inc. cares deeply about Flix2You’s customer’s information
security and privacy. Our company handles Customer’s Personally Identifiable
Information (PII) with the utmost discretion, only accessing or modifying entries that
have changed and are confirmed by the customer or have been corrupted/no longer
necessary. Personally Identifiable Information (PII) includes data that Flix2You collects,
including Date of Birth, Payment Details, Credit Card Details, Home Address, Email
Address, and Phone Number. The Personally Identifiable Information (PII) will only be
used by Flix2You to verify users and maintain account records. Customers will only
provide this PII in the case that they forget their username and/or password and require
new login information.
Customer PII will be stored and maintained to help Flix2You in processing various
accounts and billing-related activities. Flix2You may use this information to provide
customers with surveys, promotional offers, or future service changes. Flix2You may use
this information to help the company provide better customer experience. We like to
keep as little information as possible, which helps us limit our risk to potential
internal/external information leaks.
Account removal can be requested online. After a removal request is put in, we ask for
up to 5 business days for the removal to be fully processed. Once the removal process is
finished, PII will be removed from the company database. All other information, such as
regional location and content history, will be kept solely for analytical purposes.
Customers can make some changes to account settings to limit the types of notifications
received by Flix2You. However, they cannot stop all notification settings, such as
account expiration, security issues, or service changes.
Flix2You also monitors customer activity to influence a better membership experience
and offer suggestions based on their activity. This may include the selections made by
account users to create trends that will allow Flix2You to present more suitable media
choices. This information always remains confidential and is never shared with any
third-party websites or businesses.

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REFERENCES
Pricing & Product Comparison: Microsoft Power BI. (2020). Retrieved August 09, 2020, from
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/

SQL Server 2019. (2020). Retrieved August 09, 2020, from https://www.microsoft.com/en-
in/sql-server/sql-server-2019

General availability: Azure Hybrid Use Benefit: Azure updates: Microsoft Azure. (2020).
Retrieved August 10, 2020, from https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/updates/general-
availability-azure-hybrid-use-benefit/

6/23/2020, J. (2020, June 23). What is a Domain Controller, When is it Needed + Set Up:
Varonis. Retrieved August 09, 2020, from https://www.varonis.com/blog/domain-
controller/

Coronel, C., & Morris, S. (2019). Database systems: Design, implementation, and
management. Boston, MA: Cengage.

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