Lecture 1

OVERVIEW OF DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Database technology has evolved rapidly in the three

decades since the rise and eventual dominance of
relational database systems. While many specialized
database systems (object-oriented, spatial, multimedia,
etc.) have found substantial user communities in the
science and engineering fields, relational systems remain
the dominant database technology for business
enterprises. Relational database design has evolved from
an art to a science that has been made partially
implementable as a set of software design aids. Many of
these design aids have appeared as the database
component of computer-aided software engineering
(CASE) tools, and many of them offer interactive modeling
capability using a simplified data modeling approach.
Logical design—that is, the structure of basic data
relationships and their definition in a particular database
system—is largely the domain of application designers.

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Data and Information

Data are raw facts that constitute building block of

information. Data are the heart of the DBMS. It is to be
noted that all the data will not convey useful information.
Useful information is obtained from processed data. In
other words, data has to be interpreted in order to obtain
information. Good, timely, relevant information is the key
to decision making. Good decision making is the key to
organizational survival. Data are a representation of facts,
concepts, or instructions in a formalized manner suitable
for communication, interpretation, or processing by
humans or automatic means. The data in DBMS can be
broadly classified into two types, one is the collection of
information needed by the organization and the other is
“metadata” which is the information about the database.

Data are the most stable part of an organization’s

information system. A company needs to save information
about employees, departments, and salaries. These pieces
of information are called data. Permanent storage of data
are referred to as persistent data. Generally, we perform
operations on data or data items to supply some
information about an entity. For example library keeps a
list of members, books, due dates, and fines.

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Database

A database is a well-organized collection of data that are

related in a meaningfulway, which can be accessed in
different logical orders. Database systems are systems in
which the interpretation and storage of information are of
primary importance. The database should contain all the
data needed by the organization as a result, a huge
volume of data, the need for long-term storage of the
data, and access of the data by a large number of users
generally characterize database systems.

Fig 1.1 Simplified Database View

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Database Management System

A database management system (DBMS) consists of

collection of interrelated data and a set of programs to
access that data. It is software that is helpful in
maintaining and utilizing a database.

A DBMS is consist of:

 a collection of interrelated and persistent data. This

part of DBMS is referred to as database (DB).
 A set of application programs used to access,
update, and manage data. This part constitute the
data management system.
 A general-purpose software. This means that the
DBMS can be used with a wide variety of application.

Objectives of DBMS

1. Shareability. The ability to share data resources is a

fundamental objective of database management. In
its fullest interpretation, this means different people
and different processes using the same actual data at
virtually the same time. Rather far reaching

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 ramifications stem from the stated objective of
shareability:
 Serving differently types of users with varying
skill levels
 Handling different user views of the same stored
data.
 Combining interrelated data
 Setting standards
 Controlling concurrent updates so as to maintain
data integrity
 Coordinating restart and recovery operations
across multiple users.

2. Availability. Availability means bringing the data of an

organization to the users of that data. They system
which manages data resources should be easily
accessible to the people within n organization –
making the data available when and where it is
needed, and in the manner and form in which it is
needed. Availability refers to both the data and the
DBMS which delivers the data. Availability functions
make the database available to users: defining and
creating a database, and getting data in and out of a
database.

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 The bulk of organization data, as traditionally handled
in accounting systems, lied in the enclosed region of
historical, internal, financial data. A database
management system must be capable of reaching
beyond this region to handle greater diversity in the
data stored, including subjective data, fragmentary
marketing intelligence data, uncertain forecasts and
aggregated data, as well as factual marketing,
manufacturing, personnel and accounting data.

3. Evolvability. Evolvability refers to the ability of the

DBMS to change in response to growing user needs
and advancing technology. Evolvability is the system
characteristic that enhances future availability of the
data resources. Evolvability is not the same as
expandability or extensibility, which imply extending
or adding to the system, which then grows ever
larger. Evolvability covers expansion or contraction,
both of which may occur as the system changes to fit
the ever changing needs and desires of the using
environment.

Adaptability is a more advanced form of evolvability

in which built in algorithms enable a system to change
itself, rather than having a change made to it.
Adaptability involves purposive, self organizing, or
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 self controlling behavior, that is, self regulation
toward a single criterion of success: ultimate, long-
term survival. A system exhibiting adaptive behavior
actively seeks a particular state or goal by changing
itself in response to a change in itself or its
environment. Evolvability implies the gradual
unfolding, development and growth of a system to
better meet the needs of the using environment: and
it implies change of the system in response to
changing needs and technology. With the present
state of technology, such change is externally
administered. In the future such change may occur
automatically within the system, thus exhibiting
adaptive behavior.

4. Integrity. The importance and pervasiveness of the

need to maintain database integrity is rooted in the
reality that man is perfect. Destruction, errors and
improper disclosure must be anticipated and explicit
mechanisms provided for handling them. The three
primary facets of database integrity are:
 Protecting the existence of the database
(security)
 Maintaining the quality of the database
 Ensuring the privacy of the database.

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 5. Data Independence. DBMS allows the user to store,
update, and retrieve data in an efficient manner.
DBMS provides an “abstract view” of how the data is
stored in the database.

Advantages and Disadvantages of DBMS

1. Advantages. The advantages of DBMS are:

 Control of Data Redundancy
 Data Consistency
 More information from the same amount of
data
 Sharing of data
 Improved data integrity
 Enforcement of Standards
 Economy of scale
 Balance of conflicting requirements
 Improved data accessibilty and responsiveness
 Increase productivity
 Improved maintenance through data
independence
 Increase concurrency
 Improved backup and recovery services

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Components of DBMS

1. Hardware. The hardware can range from a single

personal computer, to a single mainframe, to a
network of computers. The particular hardware
depends on the requirements of the organization and
the DBMS used. Some DBMSs run only on particular
operating systems, while others run on a wide variety
of operating systems. A DBMS requires a minimum
amount of main memory and disk space to run, but
this minimum configuration may not necessarily give
acceptable performance.

2. Software. The software includes the DBMS software,

application programs together with the operating
systems including the network software if the DBMS
is being used over a network. The application
programs are written third-generation languages or
4th generation languages.

3. Data. A database is a repository for data which, in

general, is both integrated and shared. Integration
means that the database may be thought of as a
unification of several otherwise distinct files, with any
redundancy among those files partially or wholly
eliminated. The sharing of a database refers to the
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 sharing of data by different users, in the sense that
each of those users may have access to the same
piece of data and may use it for different purposes.
Any given user will normally be concerned with only
a subset of the whole database.

4. Procedure. Procedures are the rules that govern the

design and use of database. The procedure may
contain information on how to log on to the DBMS,
startand stop the DBMS, procedure on how to
identify the failed component, how to recover the
database, change the structure of the table, and
improve the performance.

5. People. Here people refers to the people who

manages the database, database administrator,
people who design the application program, database
designer and the people who interacts with the
database, database users.

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 Fig. 1.2 People using DBMS

Database Administrator

Database Administrator is a person having central

control over data and programs accessing that data.
The database administrator is a manager whose
responsibilities are focused on management of
technical aspects of the database system. The
objectives of database administrator are given as
follows:
1. To control the database environment
2. To standardize the use of database and
associated software

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 3. To support the development and
maintenance of database application projects
4. To ensure all documentation related to
standards and implementation is up-to-date

Responsibilities of Database Administrator (DBA)

The responsibility of the database administrator is to

maintain the integrity, security, and availability of
data. A database must be protected from accidents,
such as input or programming errors, from malicious
use of the database and from hardware or software
failures that corrupt data. Protection from accidents
that cause data inaccuracy is a part of maintaining
data integrity. Protecting the database from
unauthorized or malicious use is termed as database
security. The responsibilities of the database
administrator are summarized as follows:
1. Authorizing access to the database.
2. Coordinating and monitoring its use.
3. Acquiring hardware and software resources as
needed.
4. Backup and recovery. DBA has to ensure
regular backup of database, incase of damage,
suitable recovery procedure are used to bring
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 the database up with little downtime as
possible.

Database Designer

Database designer can be either logical database

designer or physical database designer. Logical
database designer is concerned with identifying the
data, the relationships between the data, and the
constraints on the data that is to be stored in the
database. The logical database designer must have
thorough understanding of the organizations data
and its business rule.

In a nutshell, the database designer is responsible

for:
1. Identifying the data to be stored in the
database.
2. Choosing appropriate structure to represent
and store the data.

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Database Users

Database users are the people who need information

from the database to carry out their business
responsibility. The database users can be broadly
classified into two categories like application
programmers and end users.

Fig. 1.3 Different types of database user

Sophisticated End Users. Sophisticated end users

interact with the system without writing
programs. They form requests by writing queries
in a database query language. These are
submitted to query processor. Analysts who
submit queries to explore data in the database
fall in this category.

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 Specialized End Users. Specialized end users write
specialized database application that does not fit
into data-processing frame work. Application
involves knowledge base and expert system,
environment modeling system, etc.

Naive End Users. Na¨ıve end user interact with

the system by using permanent application
program Example: Query made by the student,
namely number of books borrowed in library
database.

6. Data Dictionary. A data dictionary, also known as a

“system catalog,” is a centralized store of information
about the database. It contains information about the
tables, the fields the tables contain, data types,
primary keys, indexes, the joins which have been
established between those tables, referential
integrity, cascades update, cascade delete, etc. This
information stored in the data dictionary is called the
“Metadata.” Thus a data dictionary can be considered
as a file that stores Metadata. Data dictionary is a tool
for recording and processing information about the
data that an organization uses. The data dictionary is
a central catalog for Metadata. The data dictionary
can be integrated within the DBMS or separate. Data
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 dictionary may be referenced during system design,
programming, and by actively-executing programs.
One of the major functions of a true data dictionary is
to enforce the constraints placed upon the database
by the designer, such as referential integrity and
cascade delete.

Functions of DBMS

1. Data storage, retrieval, and update. A DBMS must

furnish users with the ability to store, retrieve, and
update in the database.

2. A user-accessible catalog. A DBMS must furnish a

catalog in which descriptions of data items are
stored and which is accessible to users.
3. Transaction support. A DBMS must furnish a
mechanism which will ensure either that all the
updates corresponding to a given transaction are
made or that none of them is made.
4. Concurrency control services. A DBMS must furnish a
mechanism to ensure that the database is updated
correctly when multiple users are udpating the
database concurrently.

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 5. Recovery services. A DBMS must furnish a
mechanism for recovering the database in the event
that the datbase is damaged in any way.
6. Authorization services. A DBMS must furnish a
mechanism to ensure that only authorized users can
access the database.
7. Support for data communication. A DBMS must be
capable of integrating with communication software.
8. Integrity services. A DBMS must furnish a means to
ensure that both the data in the database and
changes to the data follow certain rules.
9. Services to promote data independence. A DBMS
must include facilities to support the independence
of programs from the actual structure of the
database.
10. Utility services. A DBMS should provide a set of
utility services.

Data Models
 Hierarchical Model. The hierarchical data model
organizes data in a tree structure. There is a hierarchy
of parent and child data segments. This structure
implies that a record can have repeating information,
generally in the child data segments. Data in a series

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 of records, which have a set of field values attached
to it. It collects all the instances of a specific record
together as a record type. These record types are the
equivalent of tables in the relational model, and with
the individual records being the equivalent of rows.
To create links between these record types, the
hierarchical model uses Parent Child Relationships.

 Network Model. The popularity of the network data

model coincided with the popularity of the
hierarchical data model. Some data were more
naturally modeled with more than one parent per
child. So, the network model permitted the modeling
of many-to-many relationships in data. In 1971, the
Conference on Data Systems Languages (CODASYL)

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formally defined the network model. The basic data
modeling construct in the network model is the set
construct. A set consists of an owner record type, a
set name, and a member record type. A member
record type can have that role in more than one set,
hence the multiparent concept is supported. An
owner record type can also be a member or owner in
another set. The data model is a simple network, and
link and intersection record types (called junction
records by IDMS) may exist, as well as sets between
them . Thus, the complete network of relationships is
represented by several pairwise sets; in each set
some (one) record type is owner (at the tail of the
network arrow) and one or more record types are
members (at the head of the relationship arrow).
Usually, a set defines a 1:M relationship, although 1:1
is permitted. The CODASYL network model is based
on mathematical set theory.

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 Relational Model. (RDBMS - relational database
management system) A database based on the
relational model developed by E.F. Codd. A relational
database allows the definition of data structures,
storage and retrieval operations and integrity
constraints. In such a database the data and relations
between them are organised in tables. A table is a
collection of records and each record in a table
contains the same fields.
Properties of Relational Tables:

o Values Are Atomic

o Each Row is Unique
o Column Values Are of the Same Kind
o The Sequence of Columns is Insignificant
o The Sequence of Rows is Insignificant
o Each Column Has a Unique Name
The RELATIONAL database model is based on the
Relational Algebra.

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 Object/Relational Model. Object/relational database
management systems (ORDBMSs) add new object
storage capabilities to the relational systems at the
core of modern information systems. These new
facilities integrate management of traditional fielded
data, complex objects such as time-series and
geospatial data and diverse binary media such as
audio, video, images, and applets. By encapsulating
methods with data structures, an ORDBMS server can
execute comple x analytical and data manipulation
operations to search and transform multimedia and
other complex objects.
As an evolutionary technology, the object/relational
(OR) approach has inherited the robust transaction-
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 and performance-management features of it s
relational ancestor and the flexibility of its object-
oriented cousin. Database designers can work with
familiar tabular structures and data definition
languages (DDLs) while assimilating new object-
management possibilities. Query and procedural
languages and call interfaces in ORDBMSs are
familiar: SQL3, vendor procedural languages, and
ODBC, JDBC, and proprietary call interfaces are all
extensions of RDBMS languages and interfaces. And
the leading vendors are, of course, quite well known:
IBM, Informix, and Oracle.

 Object-Oriented Model. Object DBMSs add database

functionality to object programming languages. They
bring much more than persistent storage of
programming language objects. Object DBMSs extend
the semantics of the C++, Smalltalk and Java object
programming languages to provide full-featured
database programming capability, while retaining
native language compatibility. A major benefit of this
approach is the unification of the application and
database development into a seamless data model
and language environment. As a result, applications
require less code, use more natural data modeling,
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 and code bases are easier to maintain. Object
developers can write complete database applications
with a modest amount of additional effort.

According to Rao (1994), "The object-oriented

database (OODB) paradigm is the combination of
object-oriented programming language (OOPL)
systems and persistent systems. The power of the
OODB comes from the seamless treatment of both
persistent data, as found in databases, and transient
data, as found in executing programs."

 Semistructured Model. In semistructured data

model, the information that is normally associated
with a schema is contained within the data, which is
sometimes called ``self-describing''. In such database
there is no clear separation between the data and the
schema, and the degree to which it is structured
depends on the application. In some forms of
semistructured data there is no separate schema, in
others it exists but only places loose constraints on
the data. Semi-structured data is naturally modelled
in terms of graphs which contain labels which give
semantics to its underlying structure. Such databases
subsume the modelling power of recent extensions of

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 flat relational databases, to nested databases which
allow the nesting (or encapsulation) of entities, and
to object databases which, in addition, allow cyclic
references between objects.

 Associative Model. The associative model divides

the real-world things about which data is to be
recorded into two sorts:
o Entities are things that have discrete,
independent existence. An entity’s existence
does not depend on any other thing.
Associations are things whose existence depends on one
or more other things, such that if any of those things
ceases to exist, then the thing itself ceases to exist or
becomes meaningless. An associative database
comprises two data structures:

- A set of items, each of which has a unique identifier, a

name and a type.
- A set of links, each of which has a unique identifier,
together with the unique identifiers of three other
things, that represent the source source, verb and target
of a fact that is recorded about the source in the
database. Each of the three things identified by the
source, verb and target may be either a link or an item.

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Database Architecture

Database architecture essentially describes the location of

all the pieces of information that make up the database
application. The database architecture can be broadly
classified into two-, three-, and multitier architecture.

1. Two-Tier Database. The two-tier architecture is a

client–server architecture in which the client contains
the presentation code and the SQL statements for
data access. The database server processes the SQL
statements and sends query results back to the client.
Two-tier client/server provides a basic separation of
tasks. The client, or first tier, is primarily responsible
for the presentation of data to the user and the
“server,” or second tier, is primarily responsible for
supplying data services to the client.

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 Fig. 1.4 Two-tier client-server architecture

Presentation Services. “Presentation services” refers

to the portion of the application which presents data
to the user. In addition, it also provides for the
mechanisms in which the user will interact with the
data. More simply put, presentation logic defines and
interacts with the user interface. The presentation of
the data should generally not contain any validation
rules.

Business Services/objects. “Business services” are a

category of application services. Business services
encapsulate an organizations business processes and
requirements. These rules are derived from the steps
necessary to carry out day-today business in an

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organization. These rules can be validation rules, used
to be sure that the incoming information is of a valid
type and format, or they can be process rules, which
ensure that the proper business process is followed in
order to complete an operation.

Application Services. “Application services” provide

other functions necessary for the application.

Data Services. “Data services” provide access to data

independent of their location. The data can come
from legacy mainframe, SQL RDBMS, or proprietary
data access systems. Once again, the data services
provide a standard interface for accessing data.

Advantages of Two-tier Architecture

The two-tier architecture is a good approach for

systems with stable requirements and a moderate
number of clients. The two-tier architecture is the
simplest to implement, due to the number of good
commercial development environments.

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 Drawbacks of Two-tier Architecture

Software maintenance can be difficult because PC

clients contain a mixture of presentation, validation,
and business logic code. To make a significant change
in the business logic, code must be modified on many
PC clients. Moreover the performance of two-tier
architecture can be poor when a large number of
clients submit requests because the database server
may be overwhelmed with managing messages. With
a large number of simultaneous clients, three-tier
architecture may be necessary.

2. Three-Tier Architecture. A “Multitier,” often referred

to as “three-tier” or “N-tier,” architecture provides
greater application scalability, lower maintenance,
and increased reuse of components. Three-tier
architecture offers a technology neutral method of
building client/server applications with vendors who
employ standard interfaces which provide services
for each logical “tier.”

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 Fig. 1.5 Three-Tier Client-Server Architecture

3. Multi-Tier Architecture. A multi-tier, three-tier, or N-

tier implementation employs a three-tier logical
architecture superimposed on a distributed physical
model. Application Servers can access other
application servers in order to supply services to the
client application as well as to other Application
Servers. The multiple-tier architecture is the most
general client–server architecture. It can be most
difficult to implement because of its generality.

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 Fig. 1.6 Multi-Tier Architecture

Assignment:

1. Cite some situations where DBMS might not be

necessary.
2. We have discussed the advantages of DBMS. Do a
research work and cite some disadvantages of
DBMS.
3. Do a research work about populat DBMS vendors
and their products.
4. Do a research work on the evolution of DBMS.

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