Comparative Analysis of

Legacy Database Systems

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Legacy Database Systems

What is a Database?
Data is collection of facts and figures which can be processed to produce information whereas a database is the
collection of correlated data.
For Example, Name of a student, age, class and the subjects can be counted as data for recording purposes. And the
names, telephone numbers, and addresses of the people which have been recorded in an indexed address book or
stored on a portable hard drive using software such as Microsoft Access or Excel. This collection of related data
having an absolute meaning is a database.

Database Managmnt Systm:

Database Management System or DBMS refers to the mechanism of storing and reclaiming users data with
uttermost efficiency along with the security attributes. This type of system allows its users to create their own
databases which are apropos to the nature of work they desire. Such database systems are highly customizable and
proffers bunch of options. The DBMS is therefore such a general purpose system software that facilitates the
processes of defining, constructing, manipulating, and sharing of the databases among diverse users and
applications.

History of Database:
The 1960s was the beginning of database management systems (DBMS) when vendors began marketing
computerized logistics technologies for manufacturing and wider laboratory use. Intrusion detection system or IDS
was one such archaic network databases that was developed by the computer division known as General Electric.
Another database was IMS or Information Management System developed by IBM. This was a
navigational database. It used the navigational approach in which the navigation method was used
as an approach to find information about different various data.

Relational Database:
The rise of relational databases began in 1970s with the proposal of relational model of data by E.F. Codd in
1970 which divides the information into various tables with rows and columns each having its own distinctive key.
Considering that all the rows have their own unique keys, the information related to any row can be linked to the
information of another row simply by the virtuousness of these unique keys.
1980s was the forthcoming of desktop computing in which new databases like Dbase and Lotus 1-2-3 were used.
Dbase was one of the top selling computer software in the 1990s.

Post-relational database:
From 2000s till today, the next generation of databases used post-relational database model. They are fast and
effective and do not require any fixed table schema. Important examples of such databases are NoSQL ( Not only
SQL) and NewSQL.

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Comparative Analysis of Legacy

Systems

The main types of early database systems were based on three main archetypes i.e.
1.
2.
3.

Hierarchical Model Systems

Network Model Systems
Inverted File Systems

Hierarchical Databases:
As its name entails, the Hierarchical Database Model defines hierarchically-arranged data. These databases
were IBM's very first database systems, known as IMS (Information Management System) that was released in
1960.
A hierarchy is just an arrangement of things called nodes, and theses nodes are connected by lines or also known
as "branches". You can think of these nodes or branches as a connection to the next level of more specific
information. The highest node is known as the root node, and queries must pass through this node on their way
down the or throughout the hierarchy.

Network Model Database:

In 1971, the Conference on Data Systems Languages (CODASYL) officially defined the network model which
became generally known as the CODASYL Data Model. The very first Network Database Model was the
invention of Charles Bachman in 1969 to enhance the existing hierarchical database model. This model was created
to increase the flexibility and make hierarchical database less difficult to understand. To change this, Charles
Bachman developed this model to allow multiple records to be linkd to the sam ownr file creating a many-tomany relationship rather than a one-to-many". The indicated many-to-many relationships wer formed bcaus
on ownr can b linkd to many mmbr fils and vic vrsa. To mak th procss mor faster, Bachman also
cratd ths rlationships to provid a relation btwn rcords using dirct pointrs, which is th fastst mthod
of travelling over the whole network model.

Inverted Index File Systems:

It is an index data structure that stores a mapping from any given content, i.e. words or numbers, to their respective
locations in a database file. Its purpose is to allow fast and full text search, at increased processing cost when a
document is added to the current database. Several mainframe-based DBMSs have and are currently using inverted
index architectures like ADABAS (Adaptable Data Base System), DATACOM/DB, and Model 204.

Object-Oriented Databases:
The term "object-oriented database" or OODBMs first appeared in 1985 after the notable research projects that
included notable names like Encore-Ob, EXODUS, IRIS, ORION and Zeitgeist.
These databases store objects rather than data i.e. integers, strings or real numbers. These databases can store deep
hierarchies of objects and complex data types by classifying objects for random information. These databases are
designed to work efficiently with OOP (Object-Oriented Programming Languages) such as Delphi, Ruby, Python,
Perl, Java, C#, Visual Basic .NET, C++, Objective-C and Smalltalk.

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Comparison of OODBMs with RDBMS:

As far as data modeling is pertained, OODBMS deals with objects while RDBMS deals with entities.
The important features of OODBMs are:
1.
2.

3.

4.

Building up of complex objects from simpler ones by application of constructors that represent collections,
attributes and relations, and order.
The objects in OODBMs have identities independent of their values so that there is a considerable equality
and distinction between any two identical objects that point to exactly the same data structure in allocated
memory.
The objects can be encapsulated i.e. only the operations specified in the interface can be performed on
objects by applications and the interface contains hidden implementations which are inaccessible by the
applications.
Provides database garbage collection i.e. it helps in keeping external programs from having to track the use
of object pointers.

Next, the main features of RDMS (Relational Database System) are:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Efficient secondary data storage management

Data provided to be stored is arranged in tables.
Data is indexed for quick retrieval of data.
A facility primary key is provided to uniquely identify the desired rows.

When to Use Object Databases & When Not To?

Object databases should only be used when there are complex data relationships. Such relation comprise a many-tomany object relationship. It is better practice not to use the object databases where there would be fewer joint tables
or large volumes of a simple transactional data.

Comparison of RDBMS with ORDBMS:

For RDBMS, SQL2 standard (ANSI X3H2) is used and for ORDBMS, SQL3 standard is applied.
RDBMS use b-tree indexes to speed access to any scalar data whereas to define complex data types in an
ORDBMS, a specialized index structure is required for efficient management of data.
RDBMS is a mature and old software product i.e. have a diverse variety of extensions and features
available while ORDBMS is an immature product and still under development.

Comparison of OODBMS with ORDBMS:

Both DBMSs support any user-defined ADTs, data structures, object identity & reference types, and
inheritance.
ORDBMSs support extended form of SQL while OODBMSs support ODL/OQL language systems.
Both provide DBMS functionality such as recovery and concurrency control.
OODBMSs adds DBMS functionality into a programming language, whereas ORDBMSs relates richer
data types into a relational DBMS.

Conclusion:
The markets of object oriented database will continue to develop, but still they will represent only a fraction of
traditional databases. Now-a-days, RDBMSs are mostly recommended in the current databases and are likely to
coexist with OODBMSs for a very long time.

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Below is the list of currently used modern and legacy Database systems. The systems are listed by type:
relational(R), extended-relational(X), object-relational (OR), and object-oriented (OO), network (N) and hierarchical
(H):

DBMS

Vendor

Access (Jet, MSDE)

Adabas D
Adaptive Server Anywhere
Adaptive Server Enterprise
Advantage Database Server
Datacom
DB2 Everyplace
Filemaker
IDMS
Ingres ii
Interbase
MySQL
NonStop SQL
Pervasive.SQL 2000 (Btrieve)
Pervasive.SQL Workgroup
Progress
Quadbase SQL Server

Microsoft
Software AG
Sybase
Sybase
Extended Systems
Computer Associates
IBM
FileMaker Inc.
Computer Associates
Computer Associates
Inprise (Borland)
Freeware
Tandem
Pervasive Software
Pervasive Software
Progress Software
Quadbase Systems, Inc.

R:Base

R:Base Technologies

Rdb
Red Brick
SQL Server
SQLBase
SUPRA
Teradata
YARD-SQL
Adabas
Model 204

Oracle
Informix (Red Brick)
Microsoft
Centura Software
Cincom
NCR
YARD Software Ltd.
Software AG
Computer Corporation of
America
Informix (Ardent)
Informix (Ardent)
Informix
IBM
Informix
Informix

UniData
UniVerse
Cloudscape
DB2
Informix Dynamic Server 2000
Informix Extended Parallel
Server
Oracle Lite
Oracle 8I
PointBase Embedded
PointBase Mobile
PointBase Network Server
UniSQL
Objectivity DB
Velocis

Oracle
Oracle
PointBase
PointBase
PointBase
Cincom
Objectivity
Centura Software

Type

Primary Market

R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
Relationa
l
Relationa
l
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
XR
XR

Desktop
Enterprise
Mobile/Embedded
Enterprise
Mobile/Enterprise
Enterprise
Mobile
Desktop
Enterprise
Enterprise
Open Source
Open Source
Enterprise
Embedded
Enterprise (Windows 32)
Mobile/Embedded
Enterprise

XR
XR
OR
OR
OR
OR

Enterprise
Enterprise
Mobile/Embedded
Enterprise/VLDB
Enterprise
VLDB (Data Warehousing)

OR
OR
OR
OR
OR
OR
OO
RN

Mobile
Enterprise
Embedded
Mobile
Enterprise
Enterprise
VLDB (Scientific)
Enterprise/Embedded

Enterprise
Enterprise
Enterprise (Data Warehousing)
Enterprise
Mobile/Embedded
Enterprise
VLDB (Data Warehousing)
Enterprise
Enterprise
VLDB

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Db.linux

Centura Software

RNH

IMS DB

IBM

Open
Source/Mobile/Embedded
Enterprise

Source: http://cs.fit.edu/~pbernhar/dbms.html

References:

http://myassignmenthelp.com/database_management_assignment_help.html

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_list

https://www.scribd.com/doc/43544639/RDBMS-vs-ODBMS

http://www.answers.com/Q/1_What_are_objectoriented_databases_and_how_do_they_differ_from_relational_databases

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006050401857