Database Administration Fundamentals
Database Administration Fundamentals
Database Administration Fundamentals
DATABASE
ADMINISTRATION
FUNDAMENTALS
IN THI S C HAP TE R
SCENARIO: High-school student Rajesh M. Patel works part-time in his dad’s cycle shop in Pune, India. Pune was
the first city in India to have dedicated lanes for cycles.
Raj’s dad currently keeps track of his inventory using pencil and paper. Ordering parts and accessories or
counting inventory takes several days. Raj is taking a database management class in school and he realizes
that his dad’s business could benefit greatly by implementing a database management system.
Raj needs to review a few basic concepts before he starts, and has made of list of topics he knows will be
important in the first steps of the project.
Essential details
• A field is a location in a record in which a particular type of data is stored.
• A column is a group of items that are listed vertically in a table.
• A row is a group of items that are listed horizontally in a table.
• A table is a data structure characterized by rows and columns, with data occupying or potentially occupying
each cell formed by a row-column intersection.
• A record is a data structure that is a collection of fields (elements), each with its own name and type that
appear in a table as group of fields across one row.
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SCENARIO: The next step for Raj in the design of the database to streamline his father’s cycle business is to
determine the most useful relationships between the tables. He knows that he needs to create a relational
database because it will be important to conduct searches by using data in one table to find additional data
in another table. Figuring out a design that best meets the needs of the cycle shop is a critical step.
1. What is the relationship between the cycle table and the parts table?
a. one to one
b. one to many
c. many to many
2. What is a good foreign key for the relationship between the cycle table and the parts table?
a. part number
b. cycle model number
c. part name
3. What is a suggested primary key for the accessories table?
a. accessory number
b. accessory name
c. accessory model The primary key
must be a value
that is unique to
each record in the
table.
Essential details
• Most modern database management systems implement a relational model in which the data is organized
in relations (tables).
• A one-to-one relationship is an association between two tables in which the primary key value of each
record in the primary table corresponds to the value in the matching field of one, and only one, record in the
related table.
• A many-to-many relationship is a complex association between two sets of parameters in which many
parameters of each set can relate to many others in the second set.
• A parent/child relationship is a relationship between nodes in a tree data structure in which the parent is
one step closer to the root (that is, one level higher) than the child.
• Keys are unique data identifiers.
SCENARIO: Raj has the cycle database setup for his dad’s cycle shop in India. The next step is to work with his dad
to learn what operations he will need to perform with the database. These are called user requirements.
His dad needs the new application to perform these initial tasks (other requirements will be defined later):
• Create various inventory reports
• Produce sales reports (by cycle model, price, and so on)
• Add new inventory to the system when it arrives
• Change the cost of cycles and parts as necessary
• Remove cycles from the database when they are sold
1. What DML (data manipulation language) command must be used to indicate that a cycle was sold
and should be removed from the Cycle table?
a. DELETE FROM Cycle WHERE cycle _ id = T1234
b. REMOVE FROM Cycle WHERE cycle _ id = T1234
c. ERASE FROM Cycle WHERE cycle _ id = T1234
2. What command is used to report on the current on-hand quantities of red cycles?
a. SELECT cycle _ model WHERE cycle _ color = ‘red’
b. SELECT * FROM Cycle WHERE cycle _ color = ‘red’ Be very careful when
using the DELETE
c. FIND * FROM Cycle WHERE cycle _ color = ‘red’
command; it is easy to acciden-
3. How is a new cycle added to the Cycle table in the database? tally delete all rows in a table.
Use a WHERE clause unless
a. INSERT INTO Cycle (C3425, ‘Rockrider, ‘red’, 9999.00)
you want the table erased.
b. ADD INTO Cycle VLAUES (C3425, ‘Rockrider’, ‘red’, 9999.00)
c. INSERT INTO Cycle VALUES (C3425, ‘Rockrider’, ‘red’, 9999.00)
Essential details
• Structured query language (SQL) is a database sublanguage used in querying, updating, and managing rela-
tional databases and is the de facto standard for database products.
• Data manipulation language (DML) is used to insert data in, update, and query a database.
• Data definition language (DDL) defines all attributes and properties of a database, especially record layouts,
field definitions, key fields, file locations, and storage strategy.
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SCENARIO: Raj is making excellent progress automating his dad’s cycle shop. He has reduced the amount of
paperwork and provided more accurate information for his dad to maintain the current inventory.
As a result of the automation, his dad has decided that he wants to use a website to advertise and sell cycles.
Raj is in charge of the next phase of this exciting change to the cycle shop business.
Raj immediately realizes that the current database schema needs to be changed. If they are going to allow users
to buy from the internet, he needs to have photos of all their products, including cycles, accessories, and parts.
1. Which DDL command can Raj use to add a new field to the Cycle table to store the filename
of the photo?
a. ALTER TABLE Cycle ADD photo _ file _ name CHAR (30) NULL
b. ADD photo _ file _ name TO TABLE Cycle
c. ALTER Cycle TABLE USING photo _ file _ name CHAR(30) NULL
2. In the example in the previous question, what effect does the word NULL have when
adding a new cycle to the table?
a. requires the user to enter a filename for the photo
b. does not require the user to enter a filename for the photo
The ALTER
c. automatically enters a filename for the photo command can be used
3. What is the main difference between the DML command DELETE and the to add new fields or
DDL command DROP? change the format of
existing fields. Example:
a. They accomplish the same task; therefore, there is no difference
CHAR(20) to
b. DELETE removes all records from the table only; it does not remove the table VARCHAR(35).
c. DROP removes all records from the table only; it does not remove the table
Essential details
• A schema is a description of a database to a database management system (DBMS) in the language provided
by the DBMS.
• Data definition language (DDL) defines all attributes and properties of a database, especially record layouts,
field definitions, key fields, file locations, and storage strategy.
• CREATE adds items to your database.
• ALTER changes items within your database.
• DROP destroys items within your database
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IN THI S C HAP TE R
SCENARIO: Yuhong Li’s son, Yan, is taking a programming course in school and he asked her advice on selecting
a project for class. Yuhong suggests that Yan create a program to help organize her CD collection that she has
accumulated over the years.
Yan likes the idea. He can create a database table to store all of data related to his mother’s collection and use C#
or Visual Basic to create a user interface to search, add, and delete information from the table.
Yan knows that defining the table fields is very important and selecting the right data type for each field is
critical.
1. What data type should Yan use to store the CD label name?
a. char or variable char
b. name
c. integer
2. What data type should he use to store the number of tracks on each CD?
a. real number
b. integer
c. char
3. What data type should he use to store the duration of the song? To avoid performance
a. byte degradation, always use
b. integer the smallest data type that
c. Boolean matches the data to be
stored.
Essential details
• Data types specify the possible range of values of the set, the operations that can be performed
on the values, and the way in which the values are stored in memory.
• Integer data types store whole numbers.
• Floating-point data types store any real numbers.
• Character stores A-Z or 0-9—any digit or letter that math functions will not be applied to.
• Boolean stores 1 or 0, true or false.
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SCENARIO: Yan has gathered together all of the CDs in his mother’s collection – she has more than he imagined!
He has identified the data fields he needs in his database table and the best data type for each piece of data, so
he is ready to create the database tables. Yan plans to set up the table using proper ANSI SQL syntax and wants
to brush up on the details before he begins.
Essential details
• ANSI SQL syntax is the grammar and rules governing the structure and content of statements.
• A table is a data structure usually consisting of a list of entries.
• An identifier for a record in a data file that is unique and found in only one record is called a key.
A Social Security number may serve as a key in an database of employees.
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SCENARIO: Yan is learning about views in his database management class. His instructor explained that there are two
approaches to creating views: using a command line language T-SQL (Transact-SQL) or by using a graphical designer.
Yan wants to apply his new learning to the database project he is creating for his mother’s CD collection. He has
identified the following requirements for his application and will use T-SQL to create views:
1. What is the best application of views and T-SQL for this project?
a. create separate views with the information for each request
b. create a new table for each of requirements in the list
c. add data to the existing tables when more CDs are purchased
2. Which of the following is an important benefit of using views?
a. allow the user to access the data in the tables directly
b. reduce the storage requirements for the application and database Use views to restrict
c. use to represent summation data access. Create a view for
3. Which code segment creates a view containing the title, artist, and year for all an employee to see only
his or her payroll
CDs with more than 10 tracks?
information in a table that
a. CREATE VIEW CD _ More _ than _ 10 AS SELECT CD _ Title, CD _ Artist, contains all employees.
CD _ Year FROM CD _ Collection WHERE Tracks > 10
b. CREATE TABLE CD _ More _ than _ 10 AS SELECT CD _ Title, CD _ Artist,,
CD _ Year FROM CD _ Collection WHERE Tracks > 10
c. CREATE VIEW AS CD _ More _ than _ 10 FROM CD _ Collection WHERE Tracks k > 10
Essential details
• A view is a saved query that creates a virtual table from the result set of the query.
• A query is a specific set of instructions for extracting/selecting particular data.
• A graphical designer is an application, such as Microsoft Access, that is object-oriented and drag-and-drop
driven.
• Transact-SQL (T-SQL) is a sophisticated query language with additional features beyond
what is defined in the ANSI SQL.
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SCENARIO: The views that Yan created using T-SQL were very useful for his mother. She can easily identify CDs
that are in her collection using lists that can be sorted in a variety of ways. This is so much easier than creating
piles of CDs on the living room floor!
Now that Yan has practice in creating views using T-SQL, he wants to create the same queries using a graphical
designer. Practice with both approaches will certainly help him in his certification exam.
Essential details
• A view is a saved query creating a virtual table of the result set of that query.
• A query is a specific set of instructions for extracting particular data.
• Graphical designers include applications such as Microsoft Access, which are object-oriented
and drag-and-drop driven.
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SCENARIO: After having gone through the process of creating the CD collection database for his mother, Yan real-
izes that this type of structure can be used for many other inventory databases.
He has discovered that some common functionality is available in predefined SQL functions. By utilizing these
built-in, ready-to-use functions, he can increase his productivity and spend his time creating any other
necessary user-defined functions. Yan has also learned to distinguish between aggregate and scalar functions.
1. What aggregate function can Yan use to calculate the total number of CDs in the CD collection
database?
a. SUM(column name)
b. COUNT(column name)
c. AVG(column name)
2. Yan is not quite sure how scalar functions work. Which of the following is a scalar function?
a. FIRST(column name) returns the first field in the specified column
b. SUM(column name) returns the total of all values in the column
c. UCASE(column name) returns the value of the field in all uppercase letters
3. How is a stored procedure invoked?
a. RUN (procedure name, input values) To enforce data
b. EXECUTE (procedure name, input values) integrity, grant
c. PERFORM (procedure name, input values) permissions for stored
procedures but restrict
access to the underlying
tables.
Essential details
• Functions are one-word commands that return a single value written in the command set of SQL.
• Aggregate functions return a single value, calculated from values in a column.
• Scalar functions return a single value, based on the input value of a single field.
• User-defined functions are compact segments of user-written SQL code that can accept parameters and
return either a value or a table.
• Stored procedures are precompiled groups of SQL statements saved to the database.
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IN THI S C HAP TE R
SCENARIO: Katarina Larsson has always been very athletic; she enjoys kayaking, hiking, swimming, cycling, and
more. So, Katarina was thrilled when she was hired as an intern in the information systems division of Adventure
Works. Katarina is studying database management in college, so this internship is a valuable experience with the
benefits of experiencing athletic adventures in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Part of her new position includes writing SQL queries to analyze data about current trends in the recreational activities
on the island enjoyed by residents and tourists. Katarina is ready to start creating reports on the following activities:
• hiking • camping
• whale watching • golfing
• kayaking
1. Which command would ensure that return visitors are only counted once when running a query
against the reservation system?
a. SELECT ONLY
b. SELECT DISTINCT
c. SELECT UNIQUE
2. For some of the reports it will be useful to see the results in alphabetical order.
Which command will produce an alphabetical list? The SELECT
a. ORDER BY column _ name (either ASC or DESC) statement can retrieve
b. SORT BY column _ name (either ASC or DESC) data from one or many
tables or views; the result
c. ARRANGE BY column _ name (either ASC or DESC)
is stored in a result table
3. A truth table is helpful in visualizing the results of logical operators. called result _ set.
When comparing two fields, which condition always results in TRUE?
a. the AND operator and only one field = TRUE
b. the OR operator and at least one field = TRUE
c. the AND operator and at least one field = FALSE
Essential details
• SELECT is the most-used SQL command for selecting the data from the database.
• DISTINCT returns only distinct (unique) values.
• WHERE specifies which rows to retrieve.
• ORDER BY specifies an order in which to return the rows.
• Boolean logical operators
• AND displays a record if both the first condition and the second condition are true.
• OR displays a record if either the first condition or the second conditions are true.
• Truth tables show the relationships of the Boolean logical operators.
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SCENARIO: Nova Scotia is a beautiful location and Katrina is enjoying a variety of outdoor activities in her free
time. She loves her new job at Adventure Works because it is challenging and she is learning a great deal!
She is three weeks into her internship and realizes that by applying some complex queries to the recreational
trends database she will be able to produce some very enlightening reports. She decides to take some time to
review the concepts for subqueries (predicate, scalar, and table), UNIONS, JOINS, and INTERSECTS.
Essential details
• UNION combines two or more SELECT statements with an OR function.
• JOIN is used to query data from two or more tables.
• Subqueries nest inside another query.
• INTERSECT combines two or more SELECT statements with an AND function.
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Insert data
SCENARIO: Katarina gained a better understanding of the database layout through her reporting project at
Adventure Works. The database manager for the team has given her a new assignment. She will be responsible
for writing the SQL stored procedures that can be used by the programmers to insert, update, and delete data
from the database.
Adventure Works has gathered lots of new data from tourists about their preferences for recreational activities
in Nova Scotia. Katarina’s first task is to insert new rows into the database to store this data. Katarina wants to
refresh her memory on how to efficiently and correctly insert data into a database before she attempts this very
important task.
1. When designing the INSERT SQL, what happens if data is missing for a particular column?
a. The INSERT statement returns a syntax error.
b. The INSERT statement uses the default value for the column.
c. The INSERT statement inserts a NULL value in the column.
2. How can Katarina set up the INSERT to allow the programmer to copy rows from other tables?
a. She can use the INSERT INTO with a SELECT . . . FROM clause.
b. This cannot be done with an INSERT command; she must use a JOIN.
c. She can use row value constructors.
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Essential details
• The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert a new row in a table.
• The INSERT INTO with SELECT statement is used to insert a new row in a table when a sub-select is used
instead of the VALUES clause.
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Update data
SCENARIO: Because of her extensive work in adding data and creating reports from the Adventure Works
database on recreational activities, Katarina has a better understanding of the company’s database organization.
The database manager for the team is pleased with her progress and has given her a new assignment. She will
be responsible for writing the SQL stored procedures that will be used by the developers to insert, update, and
delete data from the database.
1. The developer wants to update all records in a database to reflect an increase in the provincial
value-added tax from 8 percent to 10 percent. Which of the following is the correct syntax?
a. UPDATE RENTALS SET value _ added _ tax = .10;
b. SET sales _ tax _ rate = .10 IN RENTALS;
c. UPDATE sales _ tax _ rate = .10 IN RENTALS;
2. Katarina wants to update data if a condition is true and perform an alternative update if the
condition is false. Which of the following is the best choice?
a. CASE statement
b. SWITCH statement
c. IF/THEN/ELSE statement
3. One of the developers mentioned that sometimes he needs to update data When using a
in one table from another table. Which of the following is the correct syntax CASE statement, the
for this type of update? ELSE statements
a. UPDATE SET kayak = RENTALS.kayak + EQUIPMENT.kayak (which returns NULL)
can be omitted.
FROM RENTALS, EQUIPMENT;
b. UPDATE RENTALS SET RENTALS.kayak + EQUIPMENT.kayak;
c. UPDATE RENTALS SET kayak = RENTALS.kayak + EQUIPMENT.kayak
FROM RENTALS, EQUIPMENT;
Essential details
• UPDATE is used to update existing records in a table.
• The WHERE clause in an UPDATE statement specifies the rows to update.
• CASE creates when-then-else functionality (WHEN this condition is met THEN do this).
• The value of the case expression is the value of the first WHEN clause that is true.
If none is true, the result is the ELSE.
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Delete data
SCENARIO: Katarina learned a great deal about the Adventure Works database in her last few assignments and
is ready to finish her assignment of writing the SQL stored procedures that can be used by the programmers to
insert, update, and delete data from the database.
The last task in this assignment is for Katarina to use SQL to delete existing data in the database. The procedures
must allow for the deletion of data from single or multiple tables and these transactions must ensure data and
referential integrity.
1. What happens if a WHERE statement is not included with the DELETE statement?
a. The entire table is deleted
b. The data from the table is deleted
c. The user receives a syntax error
2. How are transactions useful when updating/deleting/adding records to a database?
a. They allows multiple statements to be grouped together to avoid data integrity errors
b. They count the number of changes to records in the table
c. They restrict updates to only allow one statement to execute at a time
3. How can a programmer enforce data integrity rules when making changes
to the records in a database? To enforce data
a. When all statements in a transaction have successfully completed, issue a commit integrity when updating
statement the database, group
statements in a transaction
b. When all statements in a transaction have successfully completed, issue a rollback
using a commit statement.
statement
c. When an error occurs in one statement inside a transaction, issue a commit
statement and continue to the next statement
Essential details
• DELETE FROM deletes rows in a table.
• TRANSACTIONS are a set of two or more statements grouped into a single unit.
• ROLLBACK reverses changes.
• If all statements are correct within a single transaction the COMMIT command records the changes to the
database.
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IN THI S C HAP TE R
Understand normalization
SCENARIO: Natasha A. Desai is a student at Ohio State University and a member of Epsilon Pi Tau, an honor
society for professions in technology. The Epsilon Pi Tau chapter is conducting a fundraising campaign with
alumni to raise money for their organization.
Currently all records are kept manually in filing cabinets located in the Epsilon Pi Tau house on campus. Natasha
has recently completed a class in database design and has volunteered to create a database to digitally store
alumni information and generate an automated mailing.
The first step was gathering the data requirements, including:
• full name and maiden name if • email address (preference for • degree(s) obtained
applicable email or postal mail) • previous year donation(s)
• street address, city, state, and zip • year of graduation
Natasha wants to create the database in Microsoft Access, but she realizes that the information is not in
normalized form. Answer the questions to help normalize her database design.
Essential details
• Normalization involves applying a body of techniques to a relational database to minimize the inclusion of
duplicate information.
• Normal Form is the result of structuring (organizing) information to avoid redundancy and inconsistency
and to promote efficient maintenance, storage, and updating.
• The First Normal Form (1NF) sets a few basic rules for a database: eliminate duplicative columns from the
same table.
• The Second Normal Form (2NF) = 1NF + removing subsets of data that apply to multiple rows of a table and
place them in separate tables.
• The Third Normal Form (3NF) = 2NF + removing columns that are not dependent
upon the primary key.
SCENARIO: The database of Epsilon Pi Tau alumni is progressing nicely! Natasha has applied the concepts
of normalization to reduce storage requirements and simplify query and update procedures. The result of putting
the database into Third Normal Form was four separate tables: demographic, zip code, degree, and donation.
The next step is to create primary, foreign, and composite keys for each table. This step will ensure a high level
of data integrity and that the information is consistent and usable.
Essential details
• A primary key serves as the unique identifier of a specific row and uniquely defines a relationship
within a database.
• A foreign key references the primary key in another table.
• Data integrity ensures that data is consistent, correct, and usable throughout the database.
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Understand indexes
SCENARIO: Natasha has almost finished the design and setup of the Epsilon Pi Tau alumni database. She is at the
point of determining the need for indexes that would help honor society leaders retrieve data when they plan
various events and promotions or when they need to contact members.
A quick review of the goals and advantages of indexes will help Natasha decide whether indexes will be valuable
for the database and worth the time it will take to create them.
1. Because the primary key for the demographic table is a system-defined number, what should a
good clustered index be based upon?
a. last name
b. gender
c. first name
2. Which is a characteristic of a non-clustered index?
a. contains the actual data pages or records
b. has keywords and pointers to the data
c. includes foreign keys
3. Which is not a result of using indexes?
Rule of thumb: If the
a. increased speed of data retrieval
database will contain a
b. increased storage requirements large number of records,
c. increased speed of writing records the benefits of adding an
index outweigh the nec-
cessary time and effort.
Essential details
• An index contains keywords and associated data that point to the location of more comprehensive informa-
tion, such as files and records on a disk or record keys in a database.
• In a b-tree structure for storing database indexes, each node in the tree contains a sorted list of key values
and links that correspond to ranges of key values between the listed values.
• A non-clustered index is arranged similarly to the index of a book, where the index value points to the
actual information.
• A clustered index is arranged in a special order to make retrieval of information faster with direct access to
the information.
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms180978.aspx
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa933129(v=SQL.80).aspx _______ /3
IN THI S C HAP TE R
SCENARIO: Recently there has been a great deal of media coverage about companies losing the records
of customers and clients through a variety of security breaches. The Humongous Insurance Company does not
want to see its name in the headlines, so officers decided to complete an internal audit to identify any possible
security risks in their information systems. The team of analysts is very familiar with possible areas of risk such as
physical security, internal security, and external security.
According to the auditors, the company has a sound security plan to ensure data integrity by identifying users
and the actions they can perform, and to protect data from hackers. But other aspects need to be considered in a
comprehensive security plan.
Essential details
• A security plan identifies which users can do what action(s) to data in the database.
• A physical security plan addresses the safety of the actual location of the database.
• Access control ensures and restricts who can connect and what they can do.
• A user account provides users with access to the database.
• Roles grant permissions to the database. Defined roles give all users within a group the same permissions.
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa291801(VS.71).aspx
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd568741.aspx
_______ /3
SCENARIO: The team of analysts has completed the internal security audit of the Humongous Insurance
Company. They identified a few weaknesses in the system and recommended corrective measures to minimize
the associated risks. But before they can complete their final report, they need to understand the backup and
recovery plan.
Before meeting with the database administrator, the group reviewed database backup and restore concepts to
better understand these processes as they relate to the unique situations of the Humongous Insurance Company.
1. Which of the following backup strategies only copies files that have changed since the last full
backup?
a. partial backup
b. incremental backup
c. differential backup
2. In which situation is the use of a replication service recommended?
a. The database must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
b. The database is very resource-intensive.
c. The company uses offsite storage for database backups.
3. When performing a full backup, what information is optional? It is important that
a. data that has not changed backup software works
b. server files such as user security NAT with locked records.
c. data that has not changed since the last full backup
Essential details
• Backup is a process of saving all critical data to re-create the database in useful form in a relatively short
time.
• In a full backup all files are copied for possible future retrieval.
• In an incremental backup only files that have been changed since the last backup are copied.
• In a differential backup only files that have been changed since the last full_backup are copied.
• Replicated services re-create a full or incremental reproduction of the database.
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187510.aspx
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188312.aspx
_______ /3
IN THI S C HAP TE R
SCENARIO: Congratulations! You have reached the end of the Student Study Guide for database administration.
We hope you enjoyed the scenarios and are now aware of how databases touch many aspects of life in today’s
exciting technical world. Skills in data base administration can open doors to your future career.
The questions and hints included in this study guide will be helpful in preparation for the Database
Administration certification exam.
1. Knowledge of which core database concepts will ensure that you are prepared for the Database
Administration certification exam?
a. Relational Database Management System, Data Manipulation Language, Data Definition Language, SQL
b. electrical engineering, data types, views, and graphical designers
c. database backups, development languages, and restoration techniques
2. Which of the following are not methods to manipulate data?
a. select, insert, update, and delete
b. creation of stored procedures and functions
c. creation of primary and foreign keys
3. What is normalization? Review the concepts
a. a technique to minimize the inclusion of duplicate information and practice your data-
b. a process used to backup and restore the database base administration skills.
c. a strategy to provide keywords and pointers to stored data Use the Fast Track links
provided in each lesson to
solidify your knowledge.
Essential details
• Most modern database management systems implement a relational model in which the data is organized
in relations (tables).
• RDBMS is the acronym for Relational Data Base Management System.
• Structured query language (SQL) is a database sublanguage used in querying, updating, and managing
relational databases.
• Data manipulation language (DML) is used to insert data in, update, and query a database.
• Data definition language (DDL) defines all attributes and properties of a database, especially record layouts,
field definitions, key fields, file locations, and storage strategy.
• Normal Form is the result of structuring (organizing) information to avoid redundancy
dancy
and to promote efficient maintenance, storage, and updating.