DBMS

Introduction
• Imagine trying to operate a business without knowing who your customers
are, what products you are selling, who is working for you, who owes you
money, and whom you owe money.
• At the heart of all of these systems are the collection, storage,
aggregation, manipulation, dissemination, and management of data.
• Data are raw facts. The word raw indicates that the facts have not yet
been processed to reveal their meaning.
• Information is the result of processing raw data to reveal its meaning. Raw
data must be properly formatted for storage, processing, and presentation.
• Businesses process this much data by using databases specialized
structures that allow computer-based systems to store, manage, and
retrieve data very quickly. So, database-management system (DBMS) is a
collection of interrelated data and a set of programs to access those data.
Introduction
• The primary goal of a DBMS is to provide a way to store and retrieve
database information that is both convenient and efficient.
Types of Databases
• A database that supports data distributed across several different
sites is called a distributed database.
• On the basis of use:
• A database that is designed primarily to support a company's
day-to-day operations is classified as an operational database
(sometimes referred to as a transactional or production database).
• In contrast, a data warehouse focuses primarily on storing data used
to generate information required to make tactical or strategic
decisions. Such decisions typically require extensive data
manipulation to extract information to formulate pricing decisions,
sales forecasts, market positioning, and so on.
Types of Databases
• On the basis of structure:
• Unstructured data are data that exist in their original (raw) state, that is, in
the format in which they were collected.
• Structured data are the result of taking unstructured data and formatting
(structuring) such data to facilitate the storage, use, and generation of
information.
• Semi-structured data might not be ready (unstructured) for some types of
processing, but they might be ready (structured) for other types of
processing. For example, the data value 37890 might refer to a zip code, a
sales value, or a product code. If this value represents a zip code or a
product code and is stored as text, you cannot perform mathematical
computations with it. On the other hand, if this value represents a sales
transaction, it is necessary to format it as numeric.
Types of Databases
• To further illustrate the structure concept, imagine a stack of printed
paper invoices. If you want to merely store these invoices as images
for future retrieval and display, you can scan them and save them in a
graphic format. On the other hand, if you want to derive information
such as monthly totals and average sales, such graphic storage would
not be useful. Instead, you could store the invoice data in a
(structured) spreadsheet format so that you can perform the requisite
computations. Actually, most data you encounter are best classified as
semistructured. Semistructured data are data that have already been
processed to some extent. For example, if you look at a typical Web
page, the data are presented to you in a prearranged format to
convey some information.
• From a general management point of view, the database system is
composed of five major parts :
• Hardware
• It refers to all of the system's physical devices; for example,
computers (PCs, workstations, servers, and supercomputers), storage
devices, printers, network devices (hubs, switches, routers, fiber
optics), and other devices (automated teller machines, ID readers,
and so on).
• Software
• Although the most readily identified software is the DBMS itself, to
make the database system function fully, 3 types of software are
needed:
• Operatinq system software manages all hardware components and
makes it possible for all other software to run on the computers.
Examples of operating system software include Microsoft Windows,
Linux, Mac OS, UNIX, and MVS.
• DBMS software manages the database within the database system.
Some examples of DBMS software include Microsoft's SQL Server,
Oracle Corporation's Oracle, Sun's MySQL, and IBM's DB2.
• Application programs and utility software are used to access and
manipulate data in the DBMS and to manage the computer
environment in which data access and manipulation take place.
Application programs are most commonly used to generate reports,
tabulations, and other information to facilitate decision-making.
Utilities are the software tools used to help manage the database
system's computer components. For example, all of the major DBMS
vendors now provide graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to help create
database structures, control database access, and monitor database
operations.
• People
• This includes all users of the database system. On the basis of primary
job functions, 5 types of users can be identified:
• System administrators
• Oversee the database system's general operations.
• Database administrators (DBAs)
• Manage the DBMS and ensure that the database is functioning
properly.
The Database System Environment
• Database designers design the database structure. If the database
design is poor, even the best application programmers and the most
dedicated DBAs cannot produce a useful database environment.
• System analysts and proqrammers design and implement the
application programs. They design and create the data entry screens,
reports, and procedures through which end users access and
manipulate the database's data.
• End users are the people who use the application programs to run the
organization's daily operations. For example, salesclerks, supervisors,
managers, and directors are all classified as end users.
• Procedures:
• These are the instructions and rules that govern the design and use
of the database system.
• They enforce the standards by which business is conducted within the
organization and with customers.
• Procedures are also used to ensure that there is an organized way to
monitor and audit both the data that enter the database and the
information that is generated through the use of those data.
• Data:
• The word data covers the collection of facts stored in the database.
Because data are the raw material from which information is
generated, the determination of what data are to be entered into the
database and how those data are to be organized is a vital part of the
database designer's job.
• Data dictionary management: The DBMS stores definitions of the data
elements and their relationships (metadata) in a data dictionary. The
DBMS uses the data dictionary to look up the required data
component structures and relationships, thus relieving you from
having to code such complex relationships in each program.
• Data storage management: The DBMS creates and manages the
complex structures required for data storage, thus relieving you from
the difficult task of defining and programming the physical data
characteristics. DBMS provides storage for the data, for related data
entry forms or screen definitions, report definitions, data validation
rules, procedural code, structures to handle video and picture
formats, and so on. Data transformation and presentation: DBMS
formats the physically retrieved data to make it conform to the user's
logical expectations. For example, imagine an enterprise database
used by a multinational company. An end user in England would
expect to enter data such as July 11, 2010, as "11/07/2010." In
contrast, the same date would be entered in the United States as
"07/11/2010." Regardless of the data presentation format, the DBMS
must manage the date in the proper format for each country.
DBMS Functions

• Security management: The DBMS creates a security system that

enforces user security and data privacy. Security rules determine
which users can access the database, which data items each user can
access, and which data operations (read, add, delete, or modify) the
user can perform.
• Multiuser access control: To provide data integrity and data
consistency, the DBMS uses sophisticated algorithms to ensure that
multiple users can access the database concurrently without
compromising the integrity of the database.
DBMS Functions

• Backup and recovery management: The DBMS provides backup and

data recovery to ensure data safety and integrity. Current DBMS
systems provide special utilities that allow the DBA to perform routine
and special backup and restore procedures.
• Data integrity management: The DBMS promotes and enforces
integrity rules, thus minimizing data redundancy and maximizing data
consistency.
Advantages of DBMS
• Improved data sharing: The DBMS helps create an environment in which
end users have better access to more and better-managed data.
• Improved data security: A DBMS provides a framework for better
enforcement of data privacy and security policies.
• Better data integration: Promotes an integrated view of the organization's
operations and a clearer view of the big picture. It becomes much easier to
see how actions in one segment of the company affect other segments.
• Minimized data inconsistency: The probability of data inconsistency is
greatly reduced in a properly designed database.
• Improved decision-making: Better-managed data and data access make it
possible to generate better-quality information, on which better decisions
are based.
Limitations of DBMS
• Increased costs: Database systems require sophisticated hardware and
software and highly skilled personnel. Training, licensing, and regulatory
compliance costs are often overlooked.
• Management complexity: Database systems interface with many different
technologies and have a significant impact on a company's resources and
culture. The adoption of a database system must be properly managed to
ensure that they help advance the company's objectives.
• Maintaining currency: To maximize the efficiency of the database system,
you must perform frequent updates and apply the latest patches and
security measures to all components.
• Vendor dependence: Vendors are less likely to offer pricing point
advantages to existing customers, and those customers might be limited in
their choice of database system components.
• Frequent upgrade(replacement cycles: DBMS vendors frequently
upgrade their products by adding new functionality which often
comes bundled in new upgrade versions of the software. Some of
these versions require hardware upgrades.