UNIT-IV

TRANSACTION CONCEPT

Transaction
o The transaction is a set of logically related operation. It contains a group of
tasks.
o A transaction is an action or series of actions. It is performed by a single user to
perform operations for accessing the contents of the database.

Example: Suppose an employee of bank transfers Rs 800 from X's account to Y's
account. This small transaction contains several low-level tasks:

X's Account

1. Open_Account(X)
2. Old_Balance = X.balance
3. New_Balance = Old_Balance - 800
4. X.balance = New_Balance
5. Close_Account(X)

Y's Account

1. Open_Account(Y)
2. Old_Balance = Y.balance
3. New_Balance = Old_Balance + 800
4. Y.balance = New_Balance
5. Close_Account(Y)

Operations of Transaction:
Following are the main operations of transaction:

Read(X): Read operation is used to read the value of X from the database and stores
it in a buffer in main memory.

Write(X): Write operation is used to write the value back to the database from the
buffer.
Let's take an example to debit transaction from an account which consists of following
operations:

1. 1. R(X);
2. 2. X = X - 500;
3. 3. W(X);

Let's assume the value of X before starting of the transaction is 4000.

o The first operation reads X's value from database and stores it in a buffer.
o The second operation will decrease the value of X by 500. So buffer will contain
3500.
o The third operation will write the buffer's value to the database. So X's final
value will be 3500.

But it may be possible that because of the failure of hardware, software or power, etc.
that transaction may fail before finished all the operations in the set.

For example: If in the above transaction, the debit transaction fails after executing
operation 2 then X's value will remain 4000 in the database which is not acceptable by
the bank.

To solve this problem, we have two important operations:

Commit: It is used to save the work done permanently.

Rollback: It is used to undo the work done.

Transaction property
The transaction has the four properties. These are used to maintain consistency in a
database, before and after the transaction.

Property of Transaction (ACID Properties)

1. Atomicity
2. Consistency
3. Isolation
4. Durability
Atomicity
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o It states that all operations of the transaction take place at once if not, the
transaction is aborted.
o There is no midway, i.e., the transaction cannot occur partially. Each transaction
is treated as one unit and either run to completion or is not executed at all.

Atomicity involves the following two operations:

Abort: If a transaction aborts then all the changes made are not visible.
Commit: If a transaction commits then all the changes made are visible.

Example: Let's assume that following transaction T consisting of T1 and T2. A consists
of Rs 600 and B consists of Rs 300. Transfer Rs 100 from account A to account B.

T1 T2

Read(A) Read(B)
A:= A-100 Y:= Y+100
Write(A) Write(B)

After completion of the transaction, A consists of Rs 500 and B consists of Rs 400.

If the transaction T fails after the completion of transaction T1 but before completion
of transaction T2, then the amount will be deducted from A but not added to B. This
shows the inconsistent database state. In order to ensure correctness of database state,
the transaction must be executed in entirety.

Consistency
o The integrity constraints are maintained so that the database is consistent
before and after the transaction.
o The execution of a transaction will leave a database in either its prior stable
state or a new stable state.
o The consistent property of database states that every transaction sees a
consistent database instance.
o The transaction is used to transform the database from one consistent state to
another consistent state.

For example: The total amount must be maintained before or after the transaction.

1. Total before T occurs = 600+300=900

2. Total after T occurs= 500+400=900

Therefore, the database is consistent. In the case when T1 is completed but T2 fails,
then inconsistency will occur.

Isolation
 o It shows that the data which is used at the time of execution of a transaction
cannot be used by the second transaction until the first one is completed.
o In isolation, if the transaction T1 is being executed and using the data item X,
then that data item can't be accessed by any other transaction T2 until the
transaction T1 ends.
o The concurrency control subsystem of the DBMS enforced the isolation
property.

Durability
o The durability property is used to indicate the performance of the database's
consistent state. It states that the transaction made the permanent changes.
o They cannot be lost by the erroneous operation of a faulty transaction or by the
system failure. When a transaction is completed, then the database reaches a
state known as the consistent state. That consistent state cannot be lost, even
in the event of a system's failure.
o The recovery subsystem of the DBMS has the responsibility of Durability
property.

States of Transaction
In a database, the transaction can be in one of the following states -
Active state
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o The active state is the first state of every transaction. In this state, the transaction is
being executed.
o For example: Insertion or deletion or updating a record is done here. But all the records
are still not saved to the database.

Partially committed
o In the partially committed state, a transaction executes its final operation, but the data
is still not saved to the database.
o In the total mark calculation example, a final display of the total marks step is executed
in this state.

Committed
A transaction is said to be in a committed state if it executes all its operations
successfully. In this state, all the effects are now permanently saved on the database
system.

Failed state
o If any of the checks made by the database recovery system fails, then the transaction
is said to be in the failed state.
o In the example of total mark calculation, if the database is not able to fire a query to
fetch the marks, then the transaction will fail to execute.

Aborted
o If any of the checks fail and the transaction has reached a failed state then the database
recovery system will make sure that the database is in its previous consistent state. If
not then it will abort or roll back the transaction to bring the database into a consistent
state.
o If the transaction fails in the middle of the transaction then before executing the
transaction, all the executed transactions are rolled back to its consistent state.
o After aborting the transaction, the database recovery module will select one of the two
operations:
1. Re-start the transaction
 2. Kill the transaction

Schedule
A series of operation from one transaction to another transaction is known as schedule.
It is used to preserve the order of the operation in each of the individual transaction.

1. Serial Schedule
The serial schedule is a type of schedule where one transaction is executed completely
before starting another transaction. In the serial schedule, when the first transaction
completes its cycle, then the next transaction is executed.

For example: Suppose there are two transactions T1 and T2 which have some
operations. If it has no interleaving of operations, then there are the following two
possible outcomes:

1. Execute all the operations of T1 which was followed by all the operations of T2.
2. Execute all the operations of T1 which was followed by all the operations of T2.

o In the given (a) figure, Schedule A shows the serial schedule where T1 followed
by T2.
o In the given (b) figure, Schedule B shows the serial schedule where T2 followed
by T1.
2. Non-serial Schedule
o If interleaving of operations is allowed, then there will be non-serial schedule.
o It contains many possible orders in which the system can execute the individual
operations of the transactions.
o In the given figure (c) and (d), Schedule C and Schedule D are the non-serial
schedules. It has interleaving of operations.

3. Serializable schedule
o The serializability of schedules is used to find non-serial schedules that allow
the transaction to execute concurrently without interfering with one another.
o It identifies which schedules are correct when executions of the transaction have
interleaving of their operations.
o A non-serial schedule will be serializable if its result is equal to the result of its
transactions executed serially.
Here,

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Schedule A and Schedule B are serial schedule.

Schedule C and Schedule D are Non-serial schedule.

Testing of Serializability
Serialization Graph is used to test the Serializability of a schedule.

Assume a schedule S. For S, we construct a graph known as precedence graph. This

graph has a pair G = (V, E), where V consists a set of vertices, and E consists a set of
edges. The set of vertices is used to contain all the transactions participating in the
schedule. The set of edges is used to contain all edges Ti ->Tj for which one of the
three conditions holds:

1. Create a node Ti → Tj, if Ti executes write (Q) before Tj executes read (Q).
2. Create a node Ti → Tj if Ti executes read (Q) before Tj executes write (Q).
3. Create a node Ti → Tj if Ti executes write (Q) before Tj executes write (Q).
T1 executes write (A) before T2 executes read (A).

Create a node T1 → T2, if T1 executes read (A) before T2 executes write (A).

Create a node T1 → T2 if T1 executes write (Q) before T2 executes write (Q).

o If a precedence graph contains a single edge Ti → Tj, then all the instructions of Ti are
executed before the first instruction of Tj is executed.
o If a precedence graph for schedule S contains a cycle, then S is non-serializable. If the
precedence graph has no cycle, then S is known as serializable.

For example:
Explanation:

Read(A): In T1, no subsequent writes to A, so no new edges

Read(B): In T2, no subsequent writes to B, so no new edges
Read(C): In T3, no subsequent writes to C, so no new edges
Write(B): B is subsequently read by T3, so add edge T2 → T3
Write(C): C is subsequently read by T1, so add edge T3 → T1
Write(A): A is subsequently read by T2, so add edge T1 → T2
Write(A): In T2, no subsequent reads to A, so no new edges
Write(C): In T1, no subsequent reads to C, so no new edges
Write(B): In T3, no subsequent reads to B, so no new edges

Precedence graph for schedule S1:

T1

T3 T2
The precedence graph for schedule S1 contains a cycle that's why Schedule S1 is non-
serializable.

Explanation:

Read(A): In T4,no subsequent writes to A, so no new edges

Read(C): In T4, no subsequent writes to C, so no new edges
Write(A): A is subsequently read by T5, so add edge T4 → T5
Read(B): In T5,no subsequent writes to B, so no new edges
Write(C): C is subsequently read by T6, so add edge T4 → T6
Write(B): B is subsequently read by T6, so add edge T5 → T6
Write(C): In T6, no subsequent reads to C, so no new edges
Write(A): In T5, no subsequent reads to A, so no new edges
Write(B): In T6, no subsequent reads to B, so no new edges
Precedence graph for schedule S2:

The precedence graph for schedule S2 contains no cycle that's why ScheduleS2 is
serializable.

Conflict Serializable Schedule

o A schedule is called conflict serializability if after swapping of non-conflicting
operations, it can transform into a serial schedule.
o The schedule will be a conflict serializable if it is conflict equivalent to a serial schedule.

Conflicting Operations
The two operations become conflicting if all conditions satisfy:

1. Both belong to separate transactions.

2. They have the same data item.
3. They contain at least one write operation.

Example:
Swapping is possible only if S1 and S2 are logically equal.
Here, S1 = S2. That means it is non-conflict.

Here, S1 ≠ S2. That means it is conflict.

Conflict Equivalent
In the conflict equivalent, one can be transformed to another by swapping non-
conflicting operations. In the given example, S2 is conflict equivalent to S1 (S1 can be
converted to S2 by swapping non-conflicting operations).

Two schedules are said to be conflict equivalent if and only if:

 1. They contain the same set of the transaction.
2. If each pair of conflict operations are ordered in the same way.

Example:

Schedule S2 is a serial schedule because, in this, all operations of T1 are performed

before starting any operation of T2. Schedule S1 can be transformed into a serial
schedule by swapping non-conflicting operations of S1.

After swapping of non-conflict operations, the schedule S1 becomes:

T1 T2

Read(A)
Write(A)
Read(B)
Write(B)
Read(A)
Write(A)
Read(B)
Write(B)
Since, S1 is conflict serializable.

o A schedule will view serializable if it is view equivalent to a serial schedule.

o If a schedule is conflict serializable, then it will be view serializable.
o The view serializable which does not conflict with serializable contains blind writes.

View Equivalent
Two schedules S1 and S2 are said to be view equivalent if they satisfy the following
conditions:

1. Initial Read
An initial read of both schedules must be the same. Suppose two schedule S1 and S2.
In schedule S1, if a transaction T1 is reading the data item A, then in S2, transaction T1
should also read A.

Above two schedules are view equivalent because Initial read operation in S1 is done
by T1 and in S2 it is also done by T1.

2. Updated Read
In schedule S1, if Ti is reading A which is updated by Tj then in S2 also, Ti should read
A which is updated by Tj.
Above two schedules are not view equal because, in S1, T3 is reading A updated by T2
and in S2, T3 is reading A updated by T1.

3. Final Write
A final write must be the same between both the schedules. In schedule S1, if a
transaction T1 updates A at last then in S2, final writes operations should also be done
by T1.

Above two schedules is view equal because Final write operation in S1 is done by T3
and in S2, the final write operation is also done by T3.

Example:
Schedule S

With 3 transactions, the total number of possible schedule

1. = 3! = 6
2. S1 = <T1 T2 T3>
3. S2 = <T1 T3 T2>
4. S3 = <T2 T3 T1>
5. S4 = <T2 T1 T3>
6. S5 = <T3 T1 T2>
7. S6 = <T3 T2 T1>

Taking first schedule S1:

Schedule S1

Step 1: final updation on data items

In both schedules S and S1, there is no read except the initial read that's why we don't
need to check that condition.

Step 2: Initial Read

The initial read operation in S is done by T1 and in S1, it is also done by T1.

Step 3: Final Write

The final write operation in S is done by T3 and in S1, it is also done by T3. So, S and
S1 are view Equivalent.

The first schedule S1 satisfies all three conditions, so we don't need to check another
schedule.
Hence, view equivalent serial schedule is:

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1. T1 → T2 → T3

Recoverability of Schedule
Sometimes a transaction may not execute completely due to a software issue, system
crash or hardware failure. In that case, the failed transaction has to be rollback. But
some other transaction may also have used value produced by the failed transaction.
So, we also have to rollback those transactions.

The above table 1 shows a schedule which has two transactions. T1 reads and writes
the value of A and that value is read and written by T2. T2 commits but later on, T1
fails. Due to the failure, we have to rollback T1. T2 should also be rollback because it
reads the value written by T1, but T2 can't be rollback because it already committed.
So, this type of schedule is known as irrecoverable schedule.

Irrecoverable schedule: The schedule will be irrecoverable if Tj reads the updated

value of Ti and Tj committed before Ti commit.
The above table 2 shows a schedule with two transactions. Transaction T1 reads and
writes A, and that value is read and written by transaction T2. But later on, T1 fails. Due
to this, we have to rollback T1. T2 should be rollback because T2 has read the value
written by T1. As it has not committed before T1 commits. So we can rollback
transaction T2 as well. So, it is recoverable with cascade rollback.

Recoverable with cascading rollback: The schedule will be recoverable with

cascading rollback, if Tj reads the updated value of Ti. Commit of Tj is delayed till
commit of Ti.

The above Table 3 shows a schedule with two transactions. Transaction T1 read and
write A and commits, and that value is read and written by T2. So, this is a cascade less
recoverable schedule.
Failure Classification
To find that where the problem has occurred, we generalize a failure into the following
categories:

1. Transaction failure
2. System crash
3. Disk failure

1. Transaction failure
The transaction failure occurs when it fails to execute or when it reaches a point
from where it can't go any further. If a few transactions or processes are hurt,
then this is called as transaction failure.

Reasons for a transaction failure could be -

1. Logical errors: If a transaction cannot be completed due to some code error

or an internal error condition, then the logical error occurs.
2. Syntax error: It occurs where the DBMS itself terminates an active transaction
because the database system is not able to execute it. For example, The system
aborts an active transaction, in case of deadlock or resource unavailability.

2. System Crash
o System failure can occur due to power failure or other hardware or software
failure. Example: Operating system error.

Fail-stop assumption: In the system crash, non-volatile storage is

assumed not to be corrupted.

3. Disk Failure
o It occurs where hard disk drives or storage drives used to fail frequently. It was
a common problem in the early days of technology evolution.
o Disk failure occurs due to the formation of bad sectors, disk head crash, and
unreachability to the disk or any other failure, which destroys all or part of disk
storage.
Log-based Recovery
o

o The log is a sequence of records. The log of each transaction is maintained in some
stable storage so that if any failure occurs, then it can be recovered from there.
o If any operation is performed on the database, then it will be recorded in the log.
o But the process of storing the logs should be done before the actual transaction is
applied in the database.

Let's assume there is a transaction to modify the City of a student. The following logs
are written for this transaction.

o When the transaction is initiated, then it writes 'start' log.

1. <Tn, Start>
o When the transaction modifies the City from 'Noida' to 'Bangalore', then another log
is written to the file.

1. <Tn, City, 'Noida', 'Bangalore' >

o When the transaction is finished, then it writes another log to indicate the end of the
transaction.

1. <Tn, Commit>

There are two approaches to modify the database:

1. Deferred database modification:

o The deferred modification technique occurs if the transaction does not modify the
database until it has committed.
o In this method, all the logs are created and stored in the stable storage, and the
database is updated when a transaction commits.

2. Immediate database modification:

o The Immediate modification technique occurs if database modification occurs while
the transaction is still active.
o In this technique, the database is modified immediately after every operation. It follows
an actual database modification.
Recovery using Log records
When the system is crashed, then the system consults the log to find which
transactions need to be undone and which need to be redone.

1. If the log contains the record <Ti, Start> and <Ti, Commit> or <Ti, Commit>, then the
Transaction Ti needs to be redone.
2. If log contains record<Tn, Start> but does not contain the record either <Ti, commit>
or <Ti, abort>, then the Transaction Ti needs to be undone.

Checkpoint
o The checkpoint is a type of mechanism where all the previous logs are removed
from the system and permanently stored in the storage disk.
o The checkpoint is like a bookmark. While the execution of the transaction, such
checkpoints are marked, and the transaction is executed then using the steps
of the transaction, the log files will be created.
o When it reaches to the checkpoint, then the transaction will be updated into
the database, and till that point, the entire log file will be removed from the file.
Then the log file is updated with the new step of transaction till next checkpoint
and so on.
o The checkpoint is used to declare a point before which the DBMS was in the
consistent state, and all transactions were committed.

Recovery using Checkpoint

In the following manner, a recovery system recovers the database from this failure:
o The recovery system reads log files from the end to start. It reads log files from
T4 to T1.
o Recovery system maintains two lists, a redo-list, and an undo-list.
o The transaction is put into redo state if the recovery system sees a log with <Tn,
Start> and <Tn, Commit> or just <Tn, Commit>. In the redo-list and their
previous list, all the transactions are removed and then redone before saving
their logs.
o For example: In the log file, transaction T2 and T3 will have <Tn, Start> and
<Tn, Commit>. The T1 transaction will have only <Tn, commit> in the log file.
That's why the transaction is committed after the checkpoint is crossed. Hence
it puts T1, T2 and T3 transaction into redo list.
o The transaction is put into undo state if the recovery system sees a log with
<Tn, Start> but no commit or abort log found. In the undo-list, all the
transactions are undone, and their logs are removed.
o For example: Transaction T4 will have <Tn, Start>. So T4 will be put into undo
list since this transaction is not yet complete and failed amid.
Deadlock in DBMS
A deadlock is a condition where two or more transactions are waiting indefinitely for
one another to give up locks. Deadlock is said to be one of the most feared
complications in DBMS as no task ever gets finished and is in waiting state forever.

For example: In the student table, transaction T1 holds a lock on some rows and needs
to update some rows in the grade table. Simultaneously, transaction T2 holds locks on
some rows in the grade table and needs to update the rows in the Student table held
by Transaction T1.

Now, the main problem arises. Now Transaction T1 is waiting for T2 to release its lock
and similarly, transaction T2 is waiting for T1 to release its lock. All activities come to a
halt state and remain at a standstill. It will remain in a standstill until the DBMS detects
the deadlock and aborts one of the transactions.

Deadlock Avoidance
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o When a database is stuck in a deadlock state, then it is better to avoid the database
rather than aborting or restating the database. This is a waste of time and resource.
o Deadlock avoidance mechanism is used to detect any deadlock situation in advance. A
method like "wait for graph" is used for detecting the deadlock situation but this
 method is suitable only for the smaller database. For the larger database, deadlock
prevention method can be used.

Deadlock Detection
In a database, when a transaction waits indefinitely to obtain a lock, then the DBMS
should detect whether the transaction is involved in a deadlock or not. The lock
manager maintains a Wait for the graph to detect the deadlock cycle in the database.

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Wait for Graph

o This is the suitable method for deadlock detection. In this method, a graph is created
based on the transaction and their lock. If the created graph has a cycle or closed loop,
then there is a deadlock.
o The wait for the graph is maintained by the system for every transaction which is
waiting for some data held by the others. The system keeps checking the graph if there
is any cycle in the graph.

The wait for a graph for the above scenario is shown below:

Deadlock Prevention
 o Deadlock prevention method is suitable for a large database. If the resources are
allocated in such a way that deadlock never occurs, then the deadlock can be
prevented.
o The Database management system analyzes the operations of the transaction whether
they can create a deadlock situation or not. If they do, then the DBMS never allowed
that transaction to be executed.

Wait-Die scheme
In this scheme, if a transaction requests for a resource which is already held with a
conflicting lock by another transaction then the DBMS simply checks the timestamp of
both transactions. It allows the older transaction to wait until the resource is available
for execution.

Let's assume there are two transactions Ti and Tj and let TS(T) is a timestamp of any
transaction T. If T2 holds a lock by some other transaction and T1 is requesting for
resources held by T2 then the following actions are performed by DBMS:

1. Check if TS(Ti) < TS(Tj) - If Ti is the older transaction and Tj has held some resource,
then Ti is allowed to wait until the data-item is available for execution. That means if
the older transaction is waiting for a resource which is locked by the younger
transaction, then the older transaction is allowed to wait for resource until it is available.
2. Check if TS(Ti) < TS(Tj) - If Ti is older transaction and has held some resource and if Tj
is waiting for it, then Tj is killed and restarted later with the random delay but with the
same timestamp.

Wound wait scheme

o In wound wait scheme, if the older transaction requests for a resource which is held by
the younger transaction, then older transaction forces younger one to kill the
transaction and release the resource. After the minute delay, the younger transaction
is restarted but with the same timestamp.
o If the older transaction has held a resource which is requested by the Younger
transaction, then the younger transaction is asked to wait until older releases it.

DBMS Concurrency Control

Concurrency Control is the management procedure that is required for controlling
concurrent execution of the operations that take place on a database.

But before knowing about concurrency control, we should know about concurrent
execution.

Concurrent Execution in DBMS

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o In a multi-user system, multiple users can access and use the same database at one
time, which is known as the concurrent execution of the database. It means that the
same database is executed simultaneously on a multi-user system by different users.
o While working on the database transactions, there occurs the requirement of using the
database by multiple users for performing different operations, and in that case,
concurrent execution of the database is performed.
o The thing is that the simultaneous execution that is performed should be done in an
interleaved manner, and no operation should affect the other executing operations,
thus maintaining the consistency of the database. Thus, on making the concurrent
execution of the transaction operations, there occur several challenging problems that
need to be solved.

Problems with Concurrent Execution

In a database transaction, the two main operations are READ and WRITE operations.
So, there is a need to manage these two operations in the concurrent execution of the
transactions as if these operations are not performed in an interleaved manner, and
the data may become inconsistent. So, the following problems occur with the
Concurrent Execution of the operations:

Problem 1: Lost Update Problems (W - W Conflict)

The problem occurs when two different database transactions perform the read/write
operations on the same database items in an interleaved manner (i.e., concurrent
execution) that makes the values of the items incorrect hence making the database
inconsistent.

For example:
Consider the below diagram where two transactions TX and TY, are performed on
the same account A where the balance of account A is $300.

o At time t1, transaction TX reads the value of account A, i.e., $300 (only read).
o At time t2, transaction TX deducts $50 from account A that becomes $250 (only
deducted and not updated/write).
o Alternately, at time t3, transaction TY reads the value of account A that will be $300
only because TX didn't update the value yet.
o At time t4, transaction TY adds $100 to account A that becomes $400 (only added but
not updated/write).
o At time t6, transaction TX writes the value of account A that will be updated as $250
only, as TY didn't update the value yet.
o Similarly, at time t7, transaction TY writes the values of account A, so it will write as
done at time t4 that will be $400. It means the value written by TX is lost, i.e., $250 is
lost.

Hence data becomes incorrect, and database sets to inconsistent.

Dirty Read Problems (W-R Conflict)
The dirty read problem occurs when one transaction updates an item of the database,
and somehow the transaction fails, and before the data gets rollback, the updated
database item is accessed by another transaction. There comes the Read-Write Conflict
between both transactions.

For example:

Consider two transactions TX and TY in the below diagram performing read/write

operations on account A where the available balance in account A is $300:

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o At time t1, transaction TX reads the value of account A, i.e., $300.

o At time t2, transaction TX adds $50 to account A that becomes $350.
o At time t3, transaction TX writes the updated value in account A, i.e., $350.
o Then at time t4, transaction TY reads account A that will be read as $350.
o Then at time t5, transaction TX rollbacks due to server problem, and the value changes
back to $300 (as initially).
o But the value for account A remains $350 for transaction TY as committed, which is the
dirty read and therefore known as the Dirty Read Problem.
Unrepeatable Read Problem (W-R Conflict)
Also known as Inconsistent Retrievals Problem that occurs when in a transaction, two
different values are read for the same database item.

For example:

Consider two transactions, TX and TY, performing the read/write operations on

account A, having an available balance = $300. The diagram is shown below:

o At time t1, transaction TX reads the value from account A, i.e., $300.
o At time t2, transaction TY reads the value from account A, i.e., $300.
o At time t3, transaction TY updates the value of account A by adding $100 to the
available balance, and then it becomes $400.
o At time t4, transaction TY writes the updated value, i.e., $400.
o After that, at time t5, transaction TX reads the available value of account A, and that will
be read as $400.
o It means that within the same transaction TX, it reads two different values of account A,
i.e., $ 300 initially, and after updation made by transaction TY, it reads $400. It is an
unrepeatable read and is therefore known as the Unrepeatable read problem.

Thus, in order to maintain consistency in the database and avoid such problems that
take place in concurrent execution, management is needed, and that is where the
concept of Concurrency Control comes into role.
Concurrency Control
Concurrency Control is the working concept that is required for controlling and
managing the concurrent execution of database operations and thus avoiding the
inconsistencies in the database. Thus, for maintaining the concurrency of the database,
we have the concurrency control protocols.

Concurrency Control Protocols

The concurrency control protocols ensure the atomicity, consistency, isolation,
durability and serializability of the concurrent execution of the database transactions.
Therefore, these protocols are categorized as:

o Lock Based Concurrency Control Protocol

o Time Stamp Concurrency Control Protocol
o Validation Based Concurrency Control Protocol

Lock-Based Protocol
In this type of protocol, any transaction cannot read or write data until it acquires an
appropriate lock on it. There are two types of lock:

1. Shared lock:

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o It is also known as a Read-only lock. In a shared lock, the data item can only read by
the transaction.
o It can be shared between the transactions because when the transaction holds a lock,
then it can't update the data on the data item.

2. Exclusive lock:

o In the exclusive lock, the data item can be both reads as well as written by the
transaction.
o This lock is exclusive, and in this lock, multiple transactions do not modify the same
data simultaneously.
There are four types of lock protocols available:
1. Simplistic lock protocol
It is the simplest way of locking the data while transaction. Simplistic lock-based
protocols allow all the transactions to get the lock on the data before insert or delete
or update on it. It will unlock the data item after completing the transaction.

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2. Pre-claiming Lock Protocol

o Pre-claiming Lock Protocols evaluate the transaction to list all the data items on which
they need locks.
o Before initiating an execution of the transaction, it requests DBMS for all the lock on
all those data items.
o If all the locks are granted then this protocol allows the transaction to begin. When the
transaction is completed then it releases all the lock.
o If all the locks are not granted then this protocol allows the transaction to rolls back
and waits until all the locks are granted.

3. Two-phase locking (2PL)

o The two-phase locking protocol divides the execution phase of the transaction into
three parts.
o In the first part, when the execution of the transaction starts, it seeks permission for
the lock it requires.
o In the second part, the transaction acquires all the locks. The third phase is started as
soon as the transaction releases its first lock.
 o In the third phase, the transaction cannot demand any new locks. It only releases the
acquired locks.

There are two phases of 2PL:

Growing phase: In the growing phase, a new lock on the data item may be acquired
by the transaction, but none can be released.

Shrinking phase: In the shrinking phase, existing lock held by the transaction may be
released, but no new locks can be acquired.

In the below example, if lock conversion is allowed then the following phase can
happen:

1. Upgrading of lock (from S(a) to X (a)) is allowed in growing phase.

2. Downgrading of lock (from X(a) to S(a)) must be done in shrinking phase.

Example:
The following way shows how unlocking and locking work with 2-PL.

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Transaction T1:

o Growing phase: from step 1-3

o Shrinking phase: from step 5-7
o Lock point: at 3

Transaction T2:

o Growing phase: from step 2-6

o Shrinking phase: from step 8-9
o Lock point: at 6
4. Strict Two-phase locking (Strict-2PL)
o The first phase of Strict-2PL is similar to 2PL. In the first phase, after acquiring all the
locks, the transaction continues to execute normally.
o The only difference between 2PL and strict 2PL is that Strict-2PL does not release a lock
after using it.
o Strict-2PL waits until the whole transaction to commit, and then it releases all the locks
at a time.
o Strict-2PL protocol does not have shrinking phase of lock release.

It does not have cascading abort as 2PL does.

Timestamp Ordering Protocol

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o The Timestamp Ordering Protocol is used to order the transactions based on

their Timestamps. The order of transaction is nothing but the ascending order
of the transaction creation.
o The priority of the older transaction is higher that's why it executes first. To
determine the timestamp of the transaction, this protocol uses system time or
logical counter.
o The lock-based protocol is used to manage the order between conflicting pairs
among transactions at the execution time. But Timestamp based protocols start
working as soon as a transaction is created.
 o Let's assume there are two transactions T1 and T2. Suppose the transaction T1
has entered the system at 007 times and transaction T2 has entered the system
at 009 times. T1 has the higher priority, so it executes first as it is entered the
system first.
o The timestamp ordering protocol also maintains the timestamp of last 'read'
and 'write' operation on a data.

Basic Timestamp ordering protocol works as follows:

1. Check the following condition whenever a transaction Ti issues a Read

(X) operation:

o If W_TS(X) >TS(Ti) then the operation is rejected.

o If W_TS(X) <= TS(Ti) then the operation is executed.
o Timestamps of all the data items are updated.

2. Check the following condition whenever a transaction Ti issues

a Write(X) operation:

o If TS(Ti) < R_TS(X) then the operation is rejected.

o If TS(Ti) < W_TS(X) then the operation is rejected and Ti is rolled back otherwise
the operation is executed.

Where,

TS(TI) denotes the timestamp of the transaction Ti.

R_TS(X) denotes the Read time-stamp of data-item X.

W_TS(X) denotes the Write time-stamp of data-item X.

Advantages and Disadvantages of TO protocol:

o TO protocol ensures serializability since the precedence graph is as follows:
 o TS protocol ensures freedom from deadlock that means no transaction ever
waits.
o But the schedule may not be recoverable and may not even be cascade- free.

Validation Based Protocol

Validation phase is also known as optimistic concurrency control technique. In the
validation based protocol, the transaction is executed in the following three phases:

1. Read phase: In this phase, the transaction T is read and executed. It is used to
read the value of various data items and stores them in temporary local
variables. It can perform all the write operations on temporary variables without
an update to the actual database.
2. Validation phase: In this phase, the temporary variable value will be validated
against the actual data to see if it violates the serializability.
3. Write phase: If the validation of the transaction is validated, then the temporary
results are written to the database or system otherwise the transaction is rolled
back.

Here each phase has the following different timestamps:

Start(Ti): It contains the time when Ti started its execution.

Validation (Ti): It contains the time when Ti finishes its read phase and starts its
validation phase.

Finish(Ti): It contains the time when Ti finishes its write phase.

 o This protocol is used to determine the time stamp for the transaction for
serialization using the time stamp of the validation phase, as it is the actual
phase which determines if the transaction will commit or rollback.
o Hence TS(T) = validation(T).
o The serializability is determined during the validation process. It can't be
decided in advance.
o While executing the transaction, it ensures a greater degree of concurrency and
also less number of conflicts.
o Thus it contains transactions which have less number of rollbacks.

Multiple Granularity
Let's start by understanding the meaning of granularity.

Granularity: It is the size of data item allowed to lock.

Multiple Granularity:
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o It can be defined as hierarchically breaking up the database into blocks which can be
locked.
o The Multiple Granularity protocol enhances concurrency and reduces lock overhead.
o It maintains the track of what to lock and how to lock.
o It makes easy to decide either to lock a data item or to unlock a data item. This type of
hierarchy can be graphically represented as a tree.

For example: Consider a tree which has four levels of nodes.

o The first level or higher level shows the entire database.

o The second level represents a node of type area. The higher level database consists of
exactly these areas.
o The area consists of children nodes which are known as files. No file can be present in
more than one area.
o Finally, each file contains child nodes known as records. The file has exactly those
records that are its child nodes. No records represent in more than one file.
 o Hence, the levels of the tree starting from the top level are as follows:
1. Database
2. Area
3. File
4. Record

In this example, the highest level shows the entire database. The levels below are file,
record, and fields.

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There are three additional lock modes with multiple granularity:

Intention Mode Lock

Intention-shared (IS): It contains explicit locking at a lower level of the tree but only
with shared locks.

Intention-Exclusive (IX): It contains explicit locking at a lower level with exclusive or

shared locks.

Shared & Intention-Exclusive (SIX): In this lock, the node is locked in shared mode,
and some node is locked in exclusive mode by the same transaction.

Compatibility Matrix with Intention Lock Modes: The below table describes the
compatibility matrix for these lock modes:

It uses the intention lock modes to ensure serializability. It requires that if a transaction
attempts to lock a node, then that node must follow these protocols:

o Transaction T1 should follow the lock-compatibility matrix.

o Transaction T1 firstly locks the root of the tree. It can lock it in any mode.
o If T1 currently has the parent of the node locked in either IX or IS mode, then the
transaction T1 will lock a node in S or IS mode only.
o If T1 currently has the parent of the node locked in either IX or SIX modes, then the
transaction T1 will lock a node in X, SIX, or IX mode only.
o If T1 has not previously unlocked any node only, then the Transaction T1 can lock a
node.
o If T1 currently has none of the children of the node-locked only, then Transaction T1
will unlock a node.

Observe that in multiple-granularity, the locks are acquired in top-down order, and
locks must be released in bottom-up order.

o If transaction T1 reads record Ra9 in file Fa, then transaction T1 needs to lock the
database, area A1 and file Fa in IX mode. Finally, it needs to lock Ra2 in S mode.
 o If transaction T2 modifies record Ra9 in file Fa, then it can do so after locking the
database, area A1 and file Fa in IX mode. Finally, it needs to lock the Ra9 in X mode.
o If transaction T3 reads all the records in file Fa, then transaction T3 needs to lock the
database, and area A in IS mode. At last, it needs to lock Fa in S mode.
o If transaction T4 reads the entire database, then T4 needs to lock the database in S
mode.

Recovery with Concurrent Transaction

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o Whenever more than one transaction is being executed, then the interleaved of
logs occur. During recovery, it would become difficult for the recovery system
to backtrack all logs and then start recovering.
o To ease this situation, 'checkpoint' concept is used by most DBMS.

As we have discussed checkpoint in Transaction Processing Concept of this tutorial, so

you can go through the concepts again to make things more clear

Testing of Serializability
Serialization Graph is used to test the Serializability of a schedule.

Assume a schedule S. For S, we construct a graph known as precedence graph. This

graph has a pair G = (V, E), where V consists a set of vertices, and E consists a set of
edges. The set of vertices is used to contain all the transactions participating in the
schedule. The set of edges is used to contain all edges Ti ->Tj for which one of the
three conditions holds:

1. Create a node Ti → Tj if Ti executes write (Q) before Tj executes read (Q).

2. Create a node Ti → Tj if Ti executes read (Q) before Tj executes write (Q).
3. Create a node Ti → Tj if Ti executes write (Q) before Tj executes write (Q).
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o If a precedence graph contains a single edge Ti → Tj, then all the instructions of Ti are
executed before the first instruction of Tj is executed.
o If a precedence graph for schedule S contains a cycle, then S is non-serializable. If the
precedence graph has no cycle, then S is known as serializable.

For example:
Explanation:

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Read(A): In T1, no subsequent writes to A, so no new edges

Read(B): In T2, no subsequent writes to B, so no new edges
Read(C): In T3, no subsequent writes to C, so no new edges
Write(B): B is subsequently read by T3, so add edge T2 → T3
Write(C): C is subsequently read by T1, so add edge T3 → T1
Write(A): A is subsequently read by T2, so add edge T1 → T2
Write(A): In T2, no subsequent reads to A, so no new edges
Write(C): In T1, no subsequent reads to C, so no new edges
Write(B): In T3, no subsequent reads to B, so no new edges

Precedence graph for schedule S1:

The precedence graph for schedule S1 contains a cycle that's why Schedule S1 is non-
serializable.
Explanation:

Read(A): In T4,no subsequent writes to A, so no new edges

Read(C): In T4, no subsequent writes to C, so no new edges
Write(A): A is subsequently read by T5, so add edge T4 → T5
Read(B): In T5,no subsequent writes to B, so no new edges
Write(C): C is subsequently read by T6, so add edge T4 → T6
Write(B): A is subsequently read by T6, so add edge T5 → T6
Write(C): In T6, no subsequent reads to C, so no new edges
Write(A): In T5, no subsequent reads to A, so no new edges
Write(B): In T6, no subsequent reads to B, so no new edges
Precedence graph for schedule S2:

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The precedence graph for schedule S2 contains no cycle that's why ScheduleS2 is
serializable.

Conflict Serializable Schedule

o A schedule is called conflict serializability if after swapping of non-conflicting
operations, it can transform into a serial schedule.
o The schedule will be a conflict serializable if it is conflict equivalent to a serial schedule.

Conflicting Operations
The two operations become conflicting if all conditions are satisfied:

1. Both belong to separate transactions.

2. They have the same data item.
3. They contain at least one write operation.
Example:
Swapping is possible only if S1 and S2 are logically equal.

Here, S1 = S2. That means it is non-conflict.

Here, S1 ≠ S2. That means it is a conflict.

Conflict Equivalent
In the conflict equivalent, one can be transformed to another by swapping non-
conflicting operations. In the given example, S2 is conflict equivalent to S1 (S1 can be
converted to S2 by swapping non-conflicting operations).

Two schedules are said to be conflict equivalent if and only if:

1. They contain the same set of transactions.

2. If each pair of conflict operations are ordered in the same way.

Example:

Schedule S2 is a serial schedule because, in this, all operations of T1 are performed

before starting any operation of T2. Schedule S1 can be transformed into a serial
schedule by swapping non-conflicting operations of S1.

After swapping of non-conflict operations, the schedule S1 becomes:

T1 T2

Read(A)
Write(A)
 Read(B)
Write(B)
Read(A)
Write(A)
Read(B)
Write(B)

Since S1 is conflict serializable.