Database Management Systems

Chapter 1

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 Basic Concepts
 Data
 Known facts that could be recorded and stored on
computer media
 Example: For a student, we have name, student
number, program, address, and so on.
 Data vs. Information
 These two are closely related and are often used
interchangeably. However, it is often useful to
distinguish between data and information.
 We define information as data that has been
processed in such a way that it can increase the
knowledge of the person who uses it.
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 Basic Concepts

 Metadata
 Data that describe the properties or characteristics
of other data
 Data definition, data structures, rules and
constraints are some of the properties included in
metadata.

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 Why Databases?

 information superhighway
 data can become a liability
 cost of managing and acquiring >> value derived
from it
 what do we need?
 tools that simplify the task of managing data and
extracting useful information in a timely fashion

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 Database

 What is a Database?
 A collection of data that is used by the application
systems of some given enterprise.

 A database is a collection of files, which in turn are

collections of records.
 Records consist of information that is related in
one way or another.
 The pieces of information that comprise a record
are called fields.

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 Database

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 DBMS

 Database Management System

 Database system is basically a computerized
record-keeping system
 The information concerned can be anything that is
deemed to be of significance to the individual or
organization the system is intended to serve
 A database system involves four major
components, namely data, hardware, software,
and users.

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 What Is a DBMS?

 Models real-world enterprise.

 Entities (e.g., students, courses)
 Relationships (e.g., Madonna is taking CS564)
 A Database Management System (DBMS) is a
software package designed to store and
manage databases.

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 DBMS
 a microcosm of computer science?
 programming languages
 object-orientation
 operating systems
 concurrent programming
 data structures
 algorithms
 parallel and distributed systems
 AI and expert systems
 statistical techniques, etc.

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 History
 Integrated Data Store (early 1960s)
 Charles Bachman (network data model)
 Bachman became the first recipient of ACM’s
Turing Award (1973) in his work in the database
area
 Information Management System (IMS, late
1960s)
 developed by IBM (hierarchical data model)
 SABRE system
• airline reservation system (American Airlines)
• travelocity.com

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 History
 Relational Model (1970)
 Edgar Codd (IBM)
 Codd won the 1981 Turing Award for his work
 Database systems matured as an academic
discipline, and changed the commercial landscape.
 SQL (1980)
 the relational model is the dominant DBMS
paradigm
 the Structured Query Language for relational
databases became the standard query language

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 History
 Concurrent Transactions (1980s)
 concurrent execution of database programs
 users write them to be run by themselves, the
DBMS is responsible for running them
concurrently
 James Gray won the 1999 Turing Award for his
work on transaction management
 Data Warehouses (1990s)
 more powerful query languages, richer data
models, etc.
 Internet
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 Paper vs DBMS

 Paper-Based System versus Database System

 Advantages of database system:

 compactness
 speed
 less drudgery
 currency

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 Files vs. DBMS

 Scenario:
 A company has a large collection (500 GB) of data
on employees, departments, products, sales and so
on.
 data is accessed concurrently
 questions about the data must be answered
quickly
 changes made to the data by different users must
be applied consistently
 access to certain parts of the data (e.g., salaries)
must be restricted.

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 Files vs. DBMS

 Application must store large datasets

between main memory and secondary
storage (e.g., buffering, page-oriented access,
32-bit addressing, etc.)
 Special code for different queries
 Must protect data from inconsistency due to
multiple concurrent users
 Crash recovery (restore data)
 Security and access control

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 Why Use a DBMS?

 Data independence
 Efficient access.
 Data integrity and security.
 Uniform data administration.
 Concurrent access, recovery from crashes.
 Reduced application development time.

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 Database Applications

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 ?
Why Study Databases??

 Shift from computation to information

 Internet technologies
 scientific applications
 Datasets increasing in diversity and volume.
 Digital libraries, interactive video, Human
Genome project, EOS project
 ... need for DBMS exploding
 DBMS encompasses most of CS
 OS, languages, theory, AI, multimedia, logic

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 Data Models
 A data model is a collection of concepts for
describing data.
 A schema is a description of a particular
collection of data, using a given data model.
 The relational model of data is the most widely
used model today.
 Main concept: relation, basically a table with rows
and columns.
 Every relation has a schema, which describes the
columns, or fields.

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 Levels of Abstraction
 Many views, single View 1 View 2 View 3
conceptual (logical) schema
and physical schema.
Conceptual Schema
 Views describe how users
see the data.
Physical Schema
 Conceptual schema defines
logical structure
 Physical schema describes
the files and indexes used.

 Schemas are defined using DDL; data is modified/queried using DML.

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 Example: University Database
 Conceptual schema:
 Students(sid: string, name: string, login: string,
age: integer, gpa:real)
 Courses(cid: string, cname: string, credits: integer)
 Faculty(fid: string, fname: string, sal: real)
 Physical schema:
 Relations stored as unordered files.
 Index on first column of Students.
 External Schema (View):
 Course_info(cid: string, fname: string, enrollment:
integer)
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 Data Independence *

 Applications insulated from how data is

structured and stored.
 Logical data independence: Protection from
changes in logical structure of data
(conceptual schema).
 Physical data independence: Protection from
changes in physical structure of data (physical
schema).
 One of the most important benefits of using a DBMS!
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 Concurrency
 Concurrent execution of user programs
is essential for good DBMS performance.
 Because disk accesses are frequent, and relatively
slow, it is important to keep the cpu humming by
working on several user programs concurrently.
 Interleaving actions of different user programs
can lead to inconsistency: e.g., check is cleared
while account balance is being computed.
 DBMS ensures such problems don’t arise: users
can pretend they are using a single-user system.
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 Transaction: An Execution of a DB Program
 Key concept is transaction, which is an atomic
sequence of database actions (reads/writes).

 Each transaction, executed completely, must

leave the DB in a consistent state if DB is
consistent when the transaction began.
 Users can specify some simple integrity constraints on
the data, and the DBMS will enforce these constraints.
 Thus, ensuring that a transaction (run alone) preserves
consistency is ultimately the user’s responsibility!

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 Scheduling Concurrent Transactions
 DBMS ensures that execution of {T1, ... , Tn} is
equivalent to some serial execution T1’ ... Tn’.
 Before reading/writing an object, a transaction requests
a lock on the object, and waits till the DBMS gives it the
lock. All locks are released at the end of the transaction.
(Strict 2PL locking protocol.)

 Idea: If an action of Ti (say, writing X) affects Tj (which

perhaps reads X), one of them, say Ti, will obtain the
lock on X first and Tj is forced to wait until Ti completes;
this effectively orders the transactions

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 Scheduling Concurrent Transactions
 Locks
 Write-lock (exclusive lock)
only one transaction at a
time
 Read-lock (shared lock) can
be held by more than 1
transaction at a time
 Deadlocks
 one of T3 or T4 must be 
rolled back and its lock
released

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 Ensuring Atomicity
 DBMS ensures atomicity (all-or-nothing property)
even if system crashes in the middle of a write
action.
 Idea: Keep a log (history) of all actions carried out
by the DBMS before executing a write action:
 Before a change is made to the database, the
corresponding log entry is forced to a safe location
(disk).
 (WAL protocol; OS support for this is often inadequate.)

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 Ensuring Atomicity
 After a crash, the effects of partially executed
transactions are undone using the log.
 If log entry wasn’t saved before the crash, DBMS would
be unable to detect and undo the change.
 The time required to recover from a crash can be
reduced by periodically forcing some information to
disk; this periodic operation is called a checkpoint.

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 The Log
 The following actions are recorded in the log:
 Ti writes an object: the old value and the new value.
• Log record must go to disk before the changed page!
 Ti commits/aborts: a log record indicating this action.
 Log records chained together by write action id, so it’s
easy to undo a specific write action (e.g., to resolve a
deadlock).
 Log is often duplexed and archived on “stable” storage.
 All log related activities (and in fact, all CC related
activities such as lock/unlock, dealing with deadlocks
etc.) are handled transparently by the DBMS.
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 These layers
Structure of a DBMS must consider
concurrency
control and
recovery
 A typical DBMS has a Query Optimization
layered architecture. and Execution
 The figure does not Relational Operators
show the concurrency
Files and Access Methods
control and recovery
components. Buffer Management
 This is one of several
Disk Space Management
possible architectures;
each system has its own
variations. DB

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 Database Roles

  Data Owner
 the person who makes the strategic and policy
decisions regarding the data of the
enterprise.
  Database Administrators
  Database Application Programmers
  End Users and DBMS Vendors

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 Database Roles

  Database Administrator (DBA) is the

person who provides the necessary technical
support for implementing those decisions.
Thus, the DBA is responsible for the overall
control of the system at a technical level.

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 Database Roles

 Here are functions of the DBA:

 Defining the physical/conceptual schema
 Handling of security, authentication and integrity
rules
 Liaising with users
 Defining backup and recovery procedures for data
availability
 Monitoring performance and responding to
changing requirements

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 Databases make these folks happy ...

 End users and DBMS vendors

 DB application programmers
 E.g. smart webmasters
 Database administrator (DBA)
 Designs logical /physical schemas
 Handles security and authorization
 Data availability, crash recovery
 Database tuning as needs evolve
Must understand how a DBMS works!
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 Summary
 DBMS used to maintain, query large datasets.
 Benefits include recovery from system crashes,
concurrent access, quick application
development, data integrity and security.
 Levels of abstraction give data independence.
 A DBMS typically has a layered architecture.
 DBAs hold responsible jobs
and are well-paid!
 DBMS R&D is one of the broadest,
most exciting areas in CS.
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