SQIT3043 Data Modeling and Database

CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION TO DATABASE

1.1 WHAT IS A DATABASE SYSTEM

1.1.1 Definitions of Database

 ‘In essence, a database is nothing more than a collection of information that
exist over a long period of time, often many years’ (Garcia-Mollina, Ullman, &
Wildom, 2009, p.1).
 ‘A database is a collection of related data. By data we mean known fact that
can be recorded and that have implicit meaning’. (Elmasri & Navathe, 2011,
p.2)
 ‘A database is a shared collection of logically related data and its description,
design to meet the information needs of an organization’ (Connoly & Begg,
2010, p. 54). Characteristics:
- Is a single, possibly large repository of data that can be used
simultaneously by many departments and users.
- All data are integrated with a minimum amount of duplication.
- A shared corporate resource.
- Not only hold operational data but also a description of this data
(metadata or data dictionary)

 Find other definitions of ‘Database’.

 Cite your sources.

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1.1.3 Evolution of Database

 The power of databases comes from a body of knowledge and technology

that has developed over several decades and is embodied in specialized
software called a database management system (DBMS) or more
colloquially ‘database system’.
 The first commercial DBMS appeared in the late 1960s
 DBMS Evolved from file-based systems (FBS), which were an early attempt to
computerize the manual filing system that we are all familiar with.
 Weaknesses of file-based system (FBS):
- Data is isolated in separate files – more difficult to access the data. FBS do
not support efficient access to data items whose location in a particular
file is not known.
- Duplication of data – the decentralization of most file based system
encourage uncontrolled duplication of data, lead to waste, cost (of
storage and other associated costs), and lost of data integrity or
inconsistency.
- Data dependence – data definition in file-based system is limited to
creation of directory structures for files. Physical structure and storage of
data files and records are defined in the application code. This means
that changes to an existing structure are difficult to make.
- Incompatible file format –the structure of file is embedded in the
application programs and dependent on the programming language
(example is COBOL which stands for COmmon Business-
Oriented Language). Hence the file structures generated by different
programs might be incompatible and difficult to be joint.
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- Fixed queries - do not support complex query (inability to question the
data).
- Proliferation of application programs - it breaks down when we have to
cross reference or process the information in the files. Access control in
most file based system only allows concurrent access to files but generally
do not prevent such situations such as two users modifying the same file at
about the same time. FBS do not guarantee that data cannot be lost if it
is not backed up.
 Early DBMS required the programmer to visualize data much as it was stored
– using several data models for describing the structure of the information in
a database. Two of the most common models are the ‘hierarchical’ or tree-
based model and the graph-based model ‘network’ model. However most
of the early models and system did not support high-level query language.

1.1.2 The Database Management System (DBMS)

Figure 1.1 Example of DBMS packages

 A DBMS is a powerful tool for creating and managing large amount of data
efficiently and allowing it to persist over long periods of time, safely.
 The DBMS is expected to:
- Data definition language - allow users to create new databases and
specify their schemas (logical structures of the data).
- Query language or data manipulation language – give users the ability to
query (or question) the data and modify the data.
- Support storage and allowing for efficient access of very large amounts of
data.
- Durability – allowing recovery of the database in the face of failures, errors
of many kinds or intentional misuse.
- Control access to data from many users at once without allowing
unexpected interactions among users (called isolation) and without

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SQIT3043 Data Modeling and Database
actions on the data to be performed partially but not completely (called
atomicity)
- Read about DBMS history page 73 to 76 in Connoly & Begg (2010).

1.2 DATABASE SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT

Data

Hardware Software Procedures People

Bridge
Machine Human

Figure 1.2 The Database System Environment

i. Hardware
 Range from a single computer to a single mainframe or a network of
computers/servers.
 A DBMS requires a minimum amount of memory and hard disk space to run,
but this minimum configuration may not necessarily give acceptable
performance.
ii. Software
 Comprises the DBMS software itself and the application programs, together
with the operating system, including network software if the DBMS is being
used over a network.
 Application programs are normally written in a third generation
programming language (3GL) such as C, C++, C#, Java, Visual Basic,
COBOL, Fortran, Ada, or Pascal, or fourth-generation language (4GL), such
as SQL, embedded in a third-generation language.
iii. Data
 Act as a bridge between the machine components and the human
components.
 The database contains both the operational and metadata (data about
data).
 Structure of the database is called the schema. The schema consists of
tables (or files) and fields (or attributes).
iv. Procedure
 Refer to instructions and rules that govern the design and use of the
database.
 The documented procedures may consist instructions on how to
- Log on to the DBMS
- Use particular DBMS facility or application program
- Start and stop the DBMS
- Make backup copies of the database
- Handle hardware and software failures
- Change the structure of a table, reorganize the database across multiple
disks, improve performance, or archive data to secondary storage.
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v. People
 There are four distinct types of people who participate in the DBMS
environment:
a. Data Administrator and Database Administrator
- Data administrator - responsible for the management of the data
resource, including database planning, development and
maintenance of standards, policies and procedures, and
conceptual/logical database design.
- Database administrator - responsible for the physical realization of the
database, including physical database design and implementation,
security and integrity control, maintenance of the operational system,
and ensuring satisfactory performance of the application for users. The
role is more technically oriented than the role of data administrator.
b. Database Designers
- Logical database designer – concerned with identifying the data (that
is, the entities and attributes), the relationship between the data (that
is , the entities and attributes), the relationships between the data, and
the constraints on the data that is to be stored in the database.
Hence, the logical database designer must have a thorough and
complete understanding of the organization’s data and any
constraints on this data.
- Physical database designer – decides how the logical database
design is to be physically realized. This involves; i)mapping the logical
database design into a set of tables and integrity constraints,
ii)selecting specific storage structures and access methods for the
data to achieve good performance, iii)designing any security
measures required on the data.
c. Application Developers
- Implement the application programs that provide the required
functionality for the end-users based on specification produced by
system analyst.
- Each program contains statements that request DBMS to perform
some operation on the database, which includes retrieving data,
inserting, updating and deleting data, written in 3GL or 4GL.
d. End-users
- ‘clients’ of database
- Can be classified according to the way they use the system:
a. Naïve users
– typically unaware of the DBMS.
– access the database through specially written application
programs that attempt to make operation as simple as possible.
b. Sophisticated users
- Familiar with the structure of the database and the facilities
offered by the DBMS.
- May use high level query language such as SQL to perform the
required operations.
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- Some may even write application program for their own use.

1.3 IMPORTANCE OF DATABASE

Discuss the use of database in the following industries/areas:
 Education
 Manufacturing/Operation
 Marketing
 Sales/Finance
 Human resource
 Health
 Agriculture
 E-Government/Online businesses
 Defense/Military

Questions:
- Find an example of database used.
- Who are the user(s) of the database?
- What are examples of data stored in the database?
- How does the database being used?

1.4 ADVANTAGES OF DATABASE (DBMS)

a) Control of data redundancy
- Eliminate data redundancy by integrating the files so that multiple copies of
the same data are not stored.
- However, the database does not eliminate redundancy entirely, but control
the amount of redundancy inherent in the database because sometimes it is
necessary to duplicate key data items to i)model relationships or ii)improve
performance.
b) Data consistency
- Ensure consistency by storing and updating data only once and make them
available immediately to all users.
c) More information from the same amount of data
- Organization can derive additional information by integrating operational
data.
d) Sharing of information
- The database belongs to the entire organization and can be shared by all
authorized users.
- New applications can be build on the existing data in the database and
add only data that is not currently stored, rather than having to define all
data requirements again.
e) Improved data integrity
- Refers to the validity and consistency of stored data
- Integrity – expressed in terms of constraints, which are consistency rules that
the database is not permitted to violate.

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f) Improved security
- Protection from unauthorized users.
- Integration allows the database administrator to define database security
and the DBMS to enforce it.
- The security may take the form user names and passwords to identify people
authorized to use the database.
g) Enforcement of standards
- Integration also allow database administrator to define and the DBMS
enforce the necessary standards.
- These may includes departmental, organizational standards for such things
as data formats to facilitate exchange of data between systems, naming
conventions, documentations standards, update procedures and access
rules.
h) Economy of scale
- Cost savings by combining budget that normally allocated to each
department for the development and maintenance of its file-based system.
i) Balance of conflicting requirements
- Database administrator has control over the database and can make
decisions about the design and operational use of the database that
provide the best use of resources for the organization as a whole rather than
decisions made at departmental level which often conflicting with each
other.
j) Improved data accessibility and responsiveness
- Data integration in database allows data that crosses departmental
boundaries is directly accessible to the end-users.
- Furthermore, many DBMS provide query languages or report writers that
allow users to ask ad hoc questions and to obtain the required information
almost immediately.
k) Increased productivity
- The DBMS increased programmers productivity and reduced development
time because;
i. DBMS provides many of the standard functions that the programmer
would normally have to write in a file based application. This allows the
programmers to concentrate on the specific functionality required by the
users.
ii. Many DBMS also provides a 4GL environment, consisting of tools to simplify
the development of database application.
l. Improved maintenance through data independence
- Unlike file-based system, DBMS separates the data descriptions from the
applications, thereby making application immune to changes in the data
descriptions.
- This is known as data independence and it simplify database maintenance.
m. Increased concurrency
- Many DBMS manage concurrent access and ensure that only one user is
allowed to access one file at one time so that data access is not interfere
with each other.
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n. Improved backup and recovery services
- Modern DBMS provide facilities to minimize the amount of processing that is
lost following a failure.

1.5 COSTS AND RISKS (DISADVATAGES)OF DATABASE (DBMS)

a) Complexity
- The provision of the functionality that user expect from a DBMS makes it an
extremely complex piece of software.
- Understanding of this functionality is the key to take the full advantage of it.
b) Size
- The breadth of functionality also makes the DBMS an extremely large piece
of software, occupying many megabytes of disk space and requiring
substantial amount of memory to run efficiently.
c) Costs of DBMS
- The cost of DBMS varies significantly depending on the environment and
functionality provided.
- There is also the recurrent annual maintenance cost which is typically a
percentage of the list price.
d) Additional hardware costs
- Storage requirement for a database may necessitate the purchase of
additional storage.
- Additionally, to achieve the required performance, larger machine and
additional hardware may also be necessary.
e) Cost of conversion
- Sometimes, the cost of converting existing applications to run on the new
DBMS and hardware can be higher than the DBMS and the hardware itself.
- This cost is one of the reasons why some organization feel tied to their current
system (legacy system) and cannot switch to modern database technology.
f) Performance
- Unlike file based system, the DBMS is written to be more general, to cater for
many applications rather than just one – resulted in some applications may
not run as fast as they used to.
g) Greater impact of failure
- The centralization of resources by the DBMS increases vulnerability of the
system.
- Failure of certain components of the DBMS can bring operation to halt.

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SQIT3043 Data Modeling and Database
SOURCE

Connoly, T., & Begg, C. (2010). Database Systems Apractical Approach to Design, Implementation,
and Management (5 ed.). Boston: Pearson.

REFERENCES

Elmasri, R., & Navathe, S. B. (2011). Database Systems Models, Languages, Design and Application
Programming (6 ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Garcia-Mollina, H., Ullman, J. D., & Wildom, J. (2009). Database Systems The Complete Book. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall.

DR. MOHD. NOOR BIN ABDUL HAMID 9

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