Csci 455

Chapter 1 Databases and Database Users

Objectives
Introduction Example of database system Database characteristics People associated with database Advantage of Using a DBMS Database implications When Not to use a DBMS

Introduction

Databases:
Used to maintain information and to present data to users

Examples includes:
Reservations systems (Hotel, Car, Airline) Transactions processing systems (Bank , local library) Investigations systems(Scientific, Criminal) Multimedia database sytems 3 Geographic information systems (GIS)

Core DataBase terminologies: 1

Data?

Any information (most likely in electronic form) worth preserving

E.g., names, addresses, grades, etc.

Database?

A collection of related data describing the activities of one or more organizations Organized (or structured) for access and modification Preserved over a long period
E.g. University Database

Core Terminologies:2

Database management system (DBMS)? A collection of programs that enables users

To define (specifying data type, etc) To construct (storing) To manipulate (reading, writing) To share
E.g., RDBMS

Protecting maintaing

Database system= DBMS + Database

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Core Terminologies: 3

Query? an operation that extracts specified data from the database

E.g.
get the list of all courses and grades taken by Smith

Relation? an organization of data into a two-dimensional table,

rows (tuples) represent basic entities or facts of some sort columns (attributes or fields) represent properties of those entities.

Schema? a description of the structure of the data in a database

also known as metadata

Database Properties

A database must
Represent some aspects of real world Collection of data must be logically coherent and meaningful Database is designed, build, and populated with data to specific purpose
See figure 1.2

Example: A University Database

Database Engineering

Design of DB application starts

Requirements definition and analysis Conceptual Design (ER ) Logical Design (Orcale / Mysquel, etc) Physical Design (storing/accessing/indexing)

Main Characteristics of DB
Self-Describing nature of a database system ( catalog =Data + metadata) Insulation between programs and data ( program-data-independence) Support of multiple views of the data (virtual data) Sharing of data and multi-user transaction processing (concurrency control)

Transaction and atomicity

ACID
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People involved in Database

people on the Scene people behind the Scene

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People on the Scene

Database administrators (DBA)
Authorization, coordination, supervision of DB

Database designers
Defining, building, maintaining, etc

End Users
Casual, navie, sophisticated

Software Eng.
(system analysts and application programmers)

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Workers behind the Scene

DBMS system designers and implementers Tool developers Operators and maintenance personnel

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File System vs. Database Mgt Systems

Suppose an organization needs to manage a large collection, say, 500 GB (i.e., 500X1024 MB) Data is supposed to be accessed concurrently by employees Changes made to the data must be applied consistently Access to the data must be restricted

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File systems vs. A DBMS (cont)

Using file systems, the data is stored in OS files Not enough MM Difficulty to directly access data (with 32bit , we can access 4GB) Need to write special program to answer each question Concurrent accesses Security policies And more
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Primary Advantages of Using a DBMS

Controlling Redundancy
Duplicate space and efforts inconsistency

Restricting Unauthorized Access

Security and authorization subsystem

Providing persistent storage for program objects and data structure Deriving new information from existing ones
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Primary Advantages of Using a DBMS (Cont)

Controlling Redundancy Data normalization vs. de-normalization Providing Multiple User Interfaces Representing Complex Relationships among Data Enforcing Integrity Constraints Providing Backup and crash Recovery Scheduling concurrent accesses to the data Reducing application development time

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Implication of the Database Approach

Standards can be enforced (data and display format) Application development time can be reduced Flexibility and maintainability Availability of up-to date information Economics of Scale

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When Not to Use A DBMS

When there is unnecessary overhead resulted from:

High initial up-front cost Generality that a DBMS provides for defining and processing data Overhead for providing
security concurrency recovery integrity
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When to Use File System

A File system is desirable under the following conditions:

The database and application are simple, well-defined, and unchangeable Single-user access to the data is required performance

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