Maseno University

Department of Information Technology

Definitions
Data – raw representation of unprocessed facts, figures, concepts or
instruction. It can exist in any form, usable or not. Data are facts presented
without relation to other things.
Information - information is data that has been given meaning by way of
relational connection. This "meaning" can be useful, but does not have to be.
In computer parlance, a relational database makes information from the data
stored within it
Tables – Collections of rows and columns used for data storage
Entities – A single thing/object/place/Organisation etc that exists and about
which information is stored. Eg A student may be an entity of the computing
school whose information may be stored in a database.
Attributes – These are characteristics of an entity. Eg the student may have
a name, age, adm no etc
Database(DB) - is a collection of related data in tables, typically describing
the activities of one or more related organizations. Database is a repository to
two kinds of data namely – End user data and Metadata
Example: - A university database could contain data on entities such as
students, lecturers, faculty/schools, courses and relationships between them
eg Students belonging to a certain school may be enrolled in different courses.
Well designed and implemented database enhance efficient - Data
Management - Data processing - Data retrieval.
Database System - Refers to all hardware, Software and human resources
that define and regulate the collection, storage and management of data in a
database and smooth running of database processes.
Hardware – Computers, Laptops, phones, networking equipment, servers etc.
Software – Database, Database Management Systems, front end dashboard,
Database Applications etc.
Human resources –system administrators: database systems operations,
Database administrators: manage the DBMS and ensure the DB is
functioning properly
Database Management System(DBMS) – A programs that manages the
database structure and controls access to the data stored in the database.
Examples: - Sqlite, MySQL, Microsoft Access, MariaDb, Microsoft Sql Server,
Oracle
Functions of DBMS
 define the structure of a database, i.e., data types and constraints that
the data will have to satisfy
 manage the storage of data safely for long periods of time, on some
storage medium controlled by the DBMS
 manipulate a database, with efficient user interfaces to query the
database to retrieve specific data, update the database to reflect
changes in the world, generate reports from the data
 manage database usage: users with their access rights, performance
optimization, sharing of data among several users, security from
accidents or unauthorized use
 monitor and analyze database usage

Components of DBMS
Advantages of DBMS:
Controlling of Redundancy: Data redundancy refers to the duplication of
data (i.e. storing same data multiple times). In a database system, by having
a centralized database and centralized control of data by the DBA the
unnecessary duplication of data is avoided. It also eliminates the extra time
for processing the large volume of data. It results in saving the storage space.
Improved Data Sharing: DBMS allows a user to share the data in any
number of application programs.
Data Integrity: Integrity means that the data in the database is accurate.
Centralized control of the data helps in permitting the administrator to define
integrity constraints to the data in the database. For example: in customer
database we can enforce an integrity that it must accept the customer only
from Noida and Meerut city.
Security: Having complete authority over the operational data, enables the
DBA in ensuring that the only mean of access to the database is through
proper channels. The DBA can define authorization checks to be carried out
whenever access to sensitive data is attempted.
Data Consistency: By eliminating data redundancy, we greatly reduce the
opportunities for inconsistency. For example: is a customer address is stored
only once, we cannot have disagreement on the stored values. Also updating
data values is greatly simplified when each value is stored in one place only.
Finally, we avoid the wasted storage that results from redundant data storage.
Efficient Data Access: In a database system, the data is managed by the
DBMS and all access to the data is through the DBMS providing a key to
effective data processing
Enforcements of Standards: With the centralized of data, DBA can establish
and enforce the data standards which may include the naming conventions,
data quality standards etc.
Data Independence: Ina database system, the database management system
provides the interface between the application programs and the data. When
changes are made to the data representation, the meta data obtained by the
DBMS is changed but the DBMS is continuing to provide the data to
application program in the previously used way. The DBMs handles the task
of transformation of data wherever necessary.
Reduced Application Development and Maintenance Time: DBMS
supports many important functions that are common to many applications,
accessing data stored in the DBMS, which facilitates the quick development
of application.
Disadvantages of DBMS
1) It is bit complex. Since it supports multiple functionality to give the user
the best, the underlying software has become complex. The designers and
developers should have thorough knowledge about the software to get the
most out of it.
2) Because of its complexity and functionality, it uses large amount of
memory. It also needs large memory to run efficiently.
3) DBMS system works on the centralized system, i.e.; all the users from all
over the world access this database. Hence any failure of the DBMS, will
impact all the users.
4) DBMS is generalized software, i.e.; it is written work on the entire systems
rather specific one. Hence some of the application will run slow.
5) Its costly to implement- cost of hardware and software is quite high
increasing budget of organisations.

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