Conceptual

• has the least detail of the three models
• contains the organization's "master entities"
• describes the information that the system will require
• sometimes acts as the basis for the logical model

Logical

• has more detail than a conceptual model
• master, operational, and transactional entities
• relationships among these entities
• does not require a conceptual model
• is technology independent

Physical

• contains enough detail to instantiate a database
• is technology dependent