What would be your design for a Netflix database for movies?

Question Analysis

This question is asking you to conceptualize and design a database schema specifically for storing information related to movies on a platform similar to Netflix. This involves understanding the various entities and relationships that exist within the domain of movie streaming, such as movies, genres, actors, directors, users, and their interactions with the content. Your design should focus on efficiently organizing and retrieving this data, allowing for functionalities like browsing, searching, and recommending movies. Considerations for scalability, performance, and data integrity should also be part of your design.

Answer

To design a Netflix-like database for movies, consider the following schema using relational database concepts:

Entities:

1. Movie

   • Attributes:
     • MovieID (Primary Key)
     • Title
     • Description
     • ReleaseDate
     • Duration
     • Rating
     • Language
     • Country
     • PosterURL
     • TrailerURL

2. Genre

   • Attributes:
     • GenreID (Primary Key)
     • GenreName

3. Actor

   • Attributes:
     • ActorID (Primary Key)
     • Name
     • Bio
     • Birthdate

4. Director

   • Attributes:
     • DirectorID (Primary Key)
     • Name
     • Bio
     • Birthdate

5. User

   • Attributes:
     • UserID (Primary Key)
     • Username
     • Email
     • PasswordHash
     • SubscriptionType
     • Country
     • JoinDate

6. Review

   • Attributes:
     • ReviewID (Primary Key)
     • UserID (Foreign Key)
     • MovieID (Foreign Key)
     • Rating
     • Comment
     • ReviewDate

Relationships:

• Movie-Genre (Many-to-Many)

  • A movie can belong to multiple genres, and each genre can have multiple movies.
  • Join Table: MovieGenre
    • MovieID (Foreign Key)
    • GenreID (Foreign Key)

• Movie-Actor (Many-to-Many)

  • A movie can have multiple actors, and each actor can be in multiple movies.
  • Join Table: MovieActor
    • MovieID (Foreign Key)
    • ActorID (Foreign Key)

• Movie-Director (One-to-Many)

  • A movie is directed by one director, but a director can direct multiple movies.

• User-Review (One-to-Many)

  • A user can write multiple reviews, but each review is written by one user.

Considerations:

• Indexes: Consider indexing frequently queried fields such as Title, GenreName, and UserID to improve search performance.
• Scalability: Use a distributed database or sharding to handle large volumes of data efficiently as the platform grows.
• Data Integrity: Use foreign key constraints to maintain referential integrity across related tables.
• Data Privacy: Ensure user data is encrypted and comply with data protection regulations.

This schema provides a foundational structure that supports essential functionalities such as movie browsing, searching by genre or actor, user reviews, and personalized recommendations.