DBMS ARCHITECTURE

Q> Explain DBMS Architecture

1- Tier Architecture

o In this architecture, the database is directly available to the user. It means the user can directly sit on
the DBMS and uses it.
o Any changes done here will directly be done on the database itself. It doesn't provide a handy tool
for end users.
o The 1-Tier architecture is used for development of the local application, where programmers can
directly communicate with the database for the quick response.

2- Tier Architecture

o The 2-Tier architecture is same as basic client-server. In the two-tier architecture, applications on the
client end can directly communicate with the database at the server side. For this interaction, API's
like: ODBC, JDBC are used.
o The user interfaces and application programs are run on the client-side.
o The server side is responsible to provide the functionalities like: query processing and transaction
management.
o To communicate with the DBMS, client-side application establishes a connection with the server
side.
3-Tier Architecture
o The 3-Tier architecture contains another layer between the client and server. In this architecture,
client can't directly communicate with the server.
o The application on the client-end interacts with an application server which further communicates
with the database system.
o End user has no idea about the existence of the database beyond the application server. The database
also has no idea about any other user beyond the application.

o The 3-Tier architecture is used in case of large web application.

Q> Explain Three schema Architecture of the DBMS:

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 o It shows the DBMS architecture.
o Mapping is used to transform the request and response between various database levels of
architecture.
o Mapping is not good for small DBMS because it takes more time.
o In External / Conceptual mapping, it is necessary to transform the request from external level to
conceptual schema.

o In Conceptual / Internal mapping, DBMS transform the request from the conceptual to internal level.

Objectives of Three schema Architecture

The main objective of three level architecture is to enable multiple users to access the same data
with a personalized view while storing the underlying data only once. Thus, it separates the user's
view from the physical structure of the database. This separation is desirable for the following
reasons:

o Different users need different views of the same data.

o The approach in which a particular user needs to see the data may change over time.
o The users of the database should not worry about the physical implementation and internal workings
of the database such as data compression and encryption techniques, hashing, optimization of the
internal structures etc.
o All users should be able to access the same data according to their requirements.
o DBA should be able to change the conceptual structure of the database without affecting the user's
o Internal structure of the database should be unaffected by changes to physical aspects of the storage.
Internal Level:

o The internal level has an internal schema which describes the physical storage structure of the
database.
o The internal schema is also known as a physical schema.
o It uses the physical data model. It is used to define that how the data will be stored in a block.
o The physical level is used to describe complex low-level data structures in detail.

The internal level is generally is concerned with the following activities: Storage space allocations. For
Example: B-Trees, Hashing etc. Access paths. For Example: Specification of primary and secondary
keys, indexes, pointers and sequencing. Data compression and encryption techniques. Optimization of
internal structures. Representation of stored fields.

Conceptual Level:

o The conceptual schema describes the design of a database at the conceptual level. Conceptual level is
also known as logical level.
o The conceptual schema describes the structure of the whole database.
o The conceptual level describes what data are to be stored in the database and also describes what
relationship exists among those data.
o In the conceptual level, internal details such as an implementation of the data structure are hidden.
o Programmers and database administrators work at this level.

External Level:

o At the external level, a database contains several schemas that sometimes called as subschema. The
subschema is used to describe the different view of the database.
o An external schema is also known as view schema.
o Each view schema describes the database part that a particular user group is interested and hides the
remaining database from that user group.
o The view schema describes the end user interaction with database systems.

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Q> Explain different type of Data Models:

Data Model is the modeling of the data description, data semantics, and consistency constraints of the data. It
provides the conceptual tools for describing the design of a database at each level of data abstraction.
Therefore, there are following four data models used for understanding the structure of the database:

1) Relational Data Model: This type of model designs the data in the form of rows and columns within a
table. Thus, a relational model uses tables for representing data and in-between relationships. Tables are also
called relations. This model was initially described by Edgar F. Codd, in 1969. The relational data model is
the widely used model which is primarily used by commercial data processing applications.

2) Entity-Relationship Data Model: An ER model is the logical representation of data as objects and
relationships among them. These objects are known as entities, and relationship is an association among
these entities. This model was designed by Peter Chen and published in 1976 papers. It was widely used in
database designing. A set of attributes describe the entities. For example, student_name, student_id describes
the 'student' entity. A set of the same type of entities is known as an 'Entity set', and the set of the same type
of relationships is known as 'relationship set'.

3) Object-based Data Model: An extension of the ER model with notions of functions, encapsulation, and
object identity, as well. This model supports a rich type system that includes structured and collection types.
Thus, in 1980s, various database systems following the object-oriented approach were developed. Here, the
objects are nothing but the data carrying its properties.

4) Semistructured Data Model: This type of data model is different from the other three data models
(explained above). The semistructured data model allows the data specifications at places where the
individual data items of the same type may have different attributes sets. The Extensible Markup Language,
also known as XML, is widely used for representing the semistructured data. Although XML was initially
designed for including the markup information to the text document, it gains importance because of its
application in the exchange of data.

Q> What is Data Independence in DBMS:

o Data independence can be explained using the three-schema architecture.

o Data independence refers characteristic of being able to modify the schema at one level of the
database system without altering the schema at the next higher level.

There are two types of data independence:

1. Logical Data Independence

o Logical data independence refers characteristic of being able to change the conceptual schema
without having to change the external schema.
o Logical data independence is used to separate the external level from the conceptual view.

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 o If we do any changes in the conceptual view of the data, then the user view of the data would not be
affected.
o Logical data independence occurs at the user interface level.

2. Physical Data Independence

o Physical data independence can be defined as the capacity to change the internal schema without
having to change the conceptual schema.
o If we do any changes in the storage size of the database system server, then the Conceptual structure
of the database will not be affected.
o Physical data independence is used to separate conceptual levels from the internal levels.
o Physical data independence occurs at the logical interface level.

Q> Explain about different Database Languages in DBMS:

o A DBMS has appropriate languages and interfaces to express database queries and updates.
o Database languages can be used to read, store and update the data in the database.

Data Definition Language (DDL)

o DDL stands for Data Definition Language. It is used to define database structure or pattern.

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 o It is used to create schema, tables, indexes, constraints, etc. in the database.
o Using the DDL statements, you can create the skeleton of the database.
o Data definition language is used to store the information of metadata like the number of tables and
schemas, their names, indexes, columns in each table, constraints, etc.

Here are some tasks that come under DDL:

o Create: It is used to create objects in the database.

o Alter: It is used to alter the structure of the database.
o Drop: It is used to delete objects from the database.
o Comment: It is used to comment on the data dictionary.

2. Data Manipulation Language (DML)

DML stands for Data Manipulation Language. It is used for accessing and manipulating data in a database.
It handles user requests.

Here are some tasks that come under DML:

o Select: It is used to retrieve data from a database.

o Insert: It is used to insert data into a table.
o Update: It is used to update existing data within a table.
o Delete: It is used to delete all records from a table.

3. Data Control Language (DCL)

o DCL stands for Data Control Language. It is used to retrieve the stored or saved data.
o The DCL execution is transactional. It also has rollback parameters(But in Oracle database, the
execution of data control language does not have the feature of rolling back.)

Here are some tasks that come under DCL:

o Grant: It is used to give user access privileges to a database.

o Revoke: It is used to take back permissions from the user.

4. Transaction Control Language (TCL)

TCL is used to run the changes made by the DML statement. TCL can be grouped into a logical
transaction.

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Here are some tasks that come under TCL:

 Commit: It is used to save the transaction on the database.

 Rollback: It is used to restore the database to original since the last Commit.