SIT 200

Database Management System

BCS
Career Options in this Unit
• Database administration
• Database design
• Data Scientist
• Cloud storage architect
Also note that every software that uses data has a database thus
database skills can be applied in
• Software development
• Software testing and Quality assurance
What is a DBMS?
• We can break it like this DBMS = Database + Management System.
• A database is a collection of related information that is organized in a
structured format.
• Management System is a set of programs to store and retrieve those
data.
• Based on this we can define DBMS like this: DBMS is a collection of
inter-related data and set of programs to store & access those data in
an easy and effective manner.
Definition 2
• A database management system (DBMS) is system software for
creating and managing databases. A DBMS makes it possible for end
users to create, protect, read, update and delete data in a database.
The most prevalent type of data management platform, the DBMS
essentially serves as an interface between databases and end users or
application program.
• Data: is a collection of raw facts, figures or instructions that do not
have much meaning to the user.
• Data may be in form of numbers, alphabets/letters or symbols, and
can be processed to produce information.
Cont.
• Meta-data: the ‘data about data’. In case of relational
databases metadata refers to information on their schema and all the
other information regarding access, storage, built in programs or any
other information about database elements or usage.
• Information is the data which has been refined, summarized &
manipulated in the way you want it, or into a more meaningful form
for decision-making. The information must be accurate, timely,
complete and relevant for it to be useful.
 Comparison Between data and information
Data Information
Unprocessed (raw) facts or figures. It is the end-product of data processing (processed
data)

Not arranged. Arranged into a meaningful format.

Does not have much meaning More meaningful to the user.

to the user.

Cannot be used for decision- making. Can be used to make decisions.

 Characteristics of a DBMS
• Traditionally, data was organized in file formats.
• A modern DBMS has the following characteristics −
❖Real-world entity − A modern DBMS is more realistic and uses real-
world entities to design its architecture. It uses the behavior and
attributes too. For example, a school database may use students as an
entity and their age as an attribute.
❖Relation-based tables − DBMS allows entities and relations among
them to form tables. A user can understand the architecture of a
database just by looking at the table names.
Cont.
❖Isolation of data and application − A database system is entirely
different than its data. A database is an active entity, whereas data is
said to be passive.
❖Less redundancy − DBMS follows the rules of normalization, which
splits a relation when any of its attributes is having redundancy in
values. Normalization is a mathematically rich and scientific process
that reduces data redundancy.
❖Query Language − DBMS is equipped with query language, which
makes it more efficient to retrieve and manipulate data
Cont.
❖Multiuser and Concurrent Access − DBMS supports multi-user
environment and allows them to access and manipulate data in
parallel. Though there are restrictions on transactions when users
attempt to handle the same data item, but users are always unaware
of them.
❖Multiple views − DBMS offers multiple views for different users
based on their usage requirements. A user who is in the Sales
department will have a different view of database than a person
working in the Production department.
Cont.
❖Security − DBMS offers methods to impose constraints while
entering data into the database and retrieving the same at a later
stage. DBMS offers many different levels of security features, which
enables multiple users to have different views with different features.
❖ACID Properties − DBMS follows the concepts
of Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability
 ACID PROPERTIES
Atomicity:
• The term atomicity defines that the data remains atomic. It means if any
operation is performed on the data, either it should be performed or
executed completely or should not be executed at all.
• It further means that the operation should not break in between or
execute partially.
Consistency:
• The word consistency means that the value should remain preserved
always. In DBMS, the integrity of the data should be maintained, which
means if a change in the database is made, it should remain preserved
always.
• The database remains consistent before and after the transaction.
Example of consistency
ACID PROPERTIES
Isolation:
• The term 'isolation' means separation.
• In DBMS, Isolation is the property of a database where no data should
affect the other one even if they occur concurrently.
• No transaction will be affected by any other transaction. So
a transaction cannot read data from any other transaction that
has not yet completed.
• Any changes that occur in any particular transaction will not be seen
by other transactions until the change is not committed in the
memory.
ACID PROPERTIES
Durability:
• Durability ensures the permanency of something.
• In DBMS, the term durability ensures that the data after the
successful execution of the operation becomes permanent in the
database.
• The durability of the data should be so perfect that even if the system
fails or leads to a crash, the database still survives.
• However, if gets lost, it becomes the responsibility of the recovery
manager for ensuring the durability of the database.
Components of the Database
System Environment
 Components of the Database System
Environment
1. Hardware: The hardware is the physical and tangible computer system
components. They include: secondary storage devices, usually hard disks, on
which the database physically resides, Input-Output devices, device
controllers and· so forth.
2. Software: The software is the actual DBMS. All requests from users for
access to the database are handled by the DBMS.
• DBMS software itself, is the most important software component in the overall system
• Operating system including network software being used in network, to share the data
of database among multiple users.
• Application programs developed in programming languages such as Java, Visual Basic
that are used to to access database in database management system. Each program
contains statements that request the DBMS to perform operation on database. The
operations may include retrieving, updating, deleting data etc . The application program
may be conventional or online workstations or terminals.
 Components of the Database System Environment
Cont.
3. Data: It is the most important component of DBMS environment
from the end users’ point of view. One of the major features of
databases is that the actual data are separated from the programs that
use the data.
 Components of the Database System Environment
4. Users:
• People or programs who interact with the database in various
capacities.
• Each type of user needs different software capabilities. The users of a
database system can be classified depending on their degrees of
expertise or the mode of their interactions with the DBMS.
 Components of the Database System Environment
Types of database users
(i) Administrators −
• Administrators maintain the DBMS and are responsible for administrating
the database.
• They are responsible to look after its usage and by whom it should be used.
• They create access profiles for users and apply limitations to maintain
isolation and force security.
• Administrators also look after DBMS resources like system license, required
tools, and other software and hardware related maintenance.
Components of the Database System Environment
( ii)Designers −
• Designers are the group of people who actually work on the designing
part of the database. They keep a close watch on what data should be
kept and in what format.
• They identify and design the whole set of entities, relations,
constraints, and views.
(iii) End Users −
• End users are those who actually reap the benefits of having a DBMS.
End users can range from simple viewers who pay attention to the
logs or market rates to sophisticated users such as business analysts.
Components of the Database System Environment
5. Procedures:
• Procedures refer to the instructions and rules that govern the design
and use of the database.
• The users of the system and the staff that manage the database
require documented procedures on how to use or run the system.
• These may consist of instructions on how to:
• Start and stop the DBMS.
• Make backup copies of the database.
• Log on to the DBMS.
• Use a particular DBMS facility or application program.
 Database Access Language
• The database access language is used to access the data to and from the
database.
• The users use the database access language to enter new data, change the
existing data in database and to retrieve required data from databases.
• The user write a set of appropriate commands in a database access
language and submits these to the DBMS. The DBMS translates the user
commands and sends it to a specific part of the DBMS called the Database
Jet Engine.
Database Access Language Cont.
• The database engine generates a set of results according to the
commands submitted by user, converts these into a user readable
form called an Inquiry Report and then displays them on the screen.
• The administrators may also use the database access language to
create and maintain the databases.
• The most popular database access language is SQL (Structured Query
Language). Relational databases are required to have a database
query language.
Advantages of Database
• Controlling Data Redundancy - In non-database systems each
application program has its own private files.
• In this case, the duplicated copies of the same data is created in many places.
In DBMS, all data of an organization is integrated into a single database file.
• The data is recorded in only one place in the database and it is not duplicated.
• Sharing of Data - In DBMS, data can be shared by authorized users of
the organization. The database administrator manages the data and
gives rights to users to access the data.
• Many users can be authorized to access the same piece of information
simultaneously.
• The remote users can also share same data. Similarly, the data of same
database can be shared between different application programs.
Cont.
• Data Consistency - By controlling the data redundancy, the data
consistency is obtained. If a data item appears only once, any update to its
value has to be performed only once and the updated value is immediately
available to all users. If the DBMS has controlled redundancy, the database
system enforces consistency.
• Integration of Data - In Database management system, data in database is
stored in tables. A single database contains multiple tables and
relationships can be created between tables (or associated data entities).
This makes easy to retrieve and update data.
• Integrity Constraints - Integrity constraints or consistency rules can be
applied to database so that the correct data can be entered into database.
The constraints may be applied to data item within a single record or the
may be applied to relationships between records.
Cont.
• Data Security -The data in many of organizations is highly sensitive, and
may even be confidential. Unauthorized access can compromise the entire
functioning of the organization.
• This can be very effectively prevented in DBMS, where the database
administrator (DBA) can block or grant access as required.
• The DBA can implement a number of access procedures and authentication schemes
to ensure that only the person(s) having enough privileges is granted access to
critical data. Thus, a DBMS is capable of providing security to the data in an
organization.
• Data Abstraction: Data abstraction results from data independence. It
allows the DBMS to provide an abstract view of the data, without divulging
the details of its physical storage or method of implementation.
Cont.
• Automatic Backup and Restore -In a file-based computer system, the
user has to create a backup of the data regularly to protect it from
being damaged or lost in the event of system crash or failure.
• This can be a very time-consuming process, and is prone to human error.
Most of the DBMS have a backup-and-recovery feature built within them, that
automatically backs-up all important data, and restores it when needed.
• Data Independence-The separation of data structure from the
application program used to access it is known as data independence.
• Typically, in a DBMS, the database and the application program are
maintained separately from each other, with the DBMS acting as a
mediator between them.
• This proves to be a big advantage, as one can easily change the database
structure without affecting the application program.
The End