Single Source of Truth Practice
A Single Source of Truth Practice is an Information Systems practice that information models and associated schemata such that every data element is stored exactly once.
- Context:
- It can result in Source of Truth Databases.
- See: Federated Database, Denormalization, Electronic Health Record, Pointer (Computer Programming), Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).
References
2017
- (Wikipedia, 2017) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_source_of_truth Retrieved:2017-6-26.
- In Information systems design and theory, single source of truth (SSOT), is the practice of structuring information models and associated schemata such that every data element is stored exactly once. Any possible linkages to this data element (possibly in other areas of the relational schema or even in distant federated databases) are by reference only. Because all other locations of the data just refer back to the primary "source of truth" location, updates to the data element in the primary location propagate to the entire system without the possibility of a duplicate value somewhere being forgotten.
Deployment of an SSOT architecture is becoming increasingly important in enterprise settings where incorrectly linked duplicate or de-normalized data elements (a direct consequence of intentional or unintentional denormalization of any explicit data model) poses a risk for retrieval of outdated, and therefore incorrect, information. A common example would be the electronic health record, where it is imperative to accurately validate patient identity against a single referential repository, which serves as the SSOT. Duplicate representations of data within the enterprise would be implemented by the use of pointers rather than duplicate database tables, rows, or cells. This ensures that data updates to elements in the authoritative location are comprehensively distributed to all federated database constituencies in the larger overall enterprise architecture.SSOT systems provide data that are authentic, relevant, and referable. [1]
- In Information systems design and theory, single source of truth (SSOT), is the practice of structuring information models and associated schemata such that every data element is stored exactly once. Any possible linkages to this data element (possibly in other areas of the relational schema or even in distant federated databases) are by reference only. Because all other locations of the data just refer back to the primary "source of truth" location, updates to the data element in the primary location propagate to the entire system without the possibility of a duplicate value somewhere being forgotten.
2014
- (Pang & Szafron, 2014) ⇒ Candy Pang, and Duane Szafron. (2014). “Single Source of Truth (SSOT) for Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). ” In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Service-Oriented Computing, pp. 575-589 . Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg,
- ABSTRACT: Enterprises have embraced Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) for years. With SOA, each business entity should be the Single Source of Truth (SSOT) of its data, and offer data services to other entities. Instead of sharing data through services, many business entities still share data through data replication. Replicating data causes inconsistencies and interoperability challenges. Even when there is a single authoritative source, that resolves inconsistencies, the data copies may end up being out-of-sync and cause errors. This paper describes how to use a SSOT service to eliminate data replication, enforce data autonomy, advocate data self-containment, and enhance data maintenance. Both mutable and immutable SSOT relationships (mappings) are considered. This paper describes the challenges, solutions, interactions and abstractions between the SSOT data service providers and the loosely coupled data consumers. It also assesses the performance and future usage of a SSOT service.