Writing a database analysis document

Question

I've been tasked with writing an analysis of a database that is currently used on a small scale. The intent of the document is to show to the business (as well as technically) that the database can scale to support other business divisions. I've struggled to find any database documentation standards on the web. It seems as though most databases are not documented; let alone have a basic ER diagram.

I'm more specifically concerned with the technical side and this is the outline I've come up with:

• Non-functional Requirements
  • Storage needs
  • Server reliability
• Schema Design & Normalization
  • Relational Integrity
  • Domain Integrity
    • Data types
    • (FOREIGN KEY, DEFAULT, NOT NULL constraints)
  • Referential Integrity
    • Parent/child references
• Query Design

Is there any aspects that I'm missing or should focus more on?

Answer 1

I would actually verify how it scales up: set up a test environment, expose to to the workload you are expecting, and see what happens. That done, describing your tests would be easy.

If you skip this essential step, your write-up might look good on paper and be completely useless.