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File Systems and Databases

Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and

Management, Fifth Edition, Rob and Coronel
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LEARNING GOAL:
• What a database is, what it does, and why
database design is important
• How modern databases evolved from files and file
systems
• About flaws in file system data management
• What a DBMS is, what it does, and how it fits into
the database system
• About types of database systems and database
models

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Database Management
• Database is shared, integrated computer
structure housing:
– End user data
– Metadata
• Database Management System (DBMS)
– Manages Database structure
– Controls access to data
– Contains query language

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Introducing the Database

• Data versus Information
– Data constitute building blocks of information
– Information produced by processing data
– Information reveals meaning of data
– Good, timely, relevant information key to decision
making
– Good decision making key to organizational
survival

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METADATA

• Metadata (meta data, or sometimes

metainformation) is "data about data", of any sort
in any media. An item of metadata may describe
an individual datum, or content item, or a
collection of data including multiple content
items and hierarchical levels, for example a
database schema. In data processing, metadata is
definitional data that provides information about
or documentation of other data managed within
an application or environment.

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METADATA

• For example, metadata would document data

about data elements or attributes, (name, size,
data type, etc) and data about records or data
structures (length, fields, columns, etc) and data
about data (where it is located, how it is
associated, ownership, etc.). Metadata may
include descriptive information about the context,
quality and condition, or characteristics of the
data.

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Importance of DBMS
• Makes data management more efficient and
effective
• Query language allows quick answers to ad
hoc queries
• Provides better access to more and
better-managed data
• Promotes integrated view of organization’s
operations
• Reduces the probability of inconsistent data

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DBMS Manages Interaction

Figure 1.2

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Database Design
• Importance of Good Design
– Poor design results in unwanted data redundancy
– Poor design generates errors leading to bad
decisions
• Practical Approach
– Focus on principles and concepts of database
design
– Importance of logical design

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Historical Roots of Database

• First applications focused on clerical tasks
• Requests for information quickly followed
• File systems developed to address needs
– Data organized according to expected use
– Data Processing (DP) specialists computerized
manual file systems

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File Terminology
• Data
– Raw Facts
• Field
– Group of characters with specific meaning
• Record
– Logically connected fields that describe a person,
place, or thing
• File
– Collection of related records

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Simple File System

Figure 1.5

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File System Critique

• File System Data Management
– Requires extensive programming in
third-generation language (3GL)
– Time consuming
– Makes ad hoc queries impossible
– Leads to islands of information

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File System Critique (con’t.)

• Data Dependence
– Change in file’s data characteristics requires
modification of data access programs
– Must tell program what to do and how
– Makes file systems cumbersome from
programming and data management views
• Structural Dependence
– Change in file structure requires modification of
related programs

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File System Critique (con’t.)

• Field Definitions and Naming Conventions
– Flexible record definition anticipates reporting
requirements
– Selection of proper field names important
– Attention to length of field names
– Use of unique record identifiers

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File System Critique (con’t.)

• Data Redundancy
– Different and conflicting versions of same data
– Results of uncontrolled data redundancy
• Data anomalies
– Modification
– Insertion
– Deletion
• Data inconsistency
– Lack of data integrity

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Database Systems
• Database consists of logically related data stored
in a single repository
• Provides advantages over file system
management approach
– Eliminates inconsistency, data anomalies, data
dependency, and structural dependency problems
– Stores data structures, relationships, and access
paths

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Database vs. File Systems

Figure 1.6

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Database System Environment

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Database System Types

• Single-user vs. Multiuser Database
– Desktop
– Workgroup
– Enterprise
• Centralized vs. Distributed
• Use
– Production or transactional
– Decision support or data warehouse

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DBMS Functions
• Data dictionary management
• Data storage management
• Data transformation and presentation
• Security management
• Multiuser access control
• Backup and recovery management
• Data integrity management
• Database language and application
programming interfaces
• Database communication interfaces

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Database Models
• Collection of logical constructs used to represent
data structure and relationships within the
database
– Conceptual models: logical nature of data
representation
– Implementation models: emphasis on how the data
are represented in the database

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Database Models (con’t.)

• Relationships in Conceptual Models
– One-to-one (1:1)
– One-to-many (1:M)
– Many-to-many (M:N)
• Implementation Database Models
– Hierarchical
– Network
– Relational

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Hierarchical Database Model

• Logically represented by an upside down tree
– Each parent can have many children
– Each child has only one parent

Figure 1.8

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Hierarchical Database Model

• Advantages
– Conceptual simplicity
– Database security and integrity
– Data independence
– Efficiency
• Disadvantages
– Complex implementation
– Difficult to manage and lack of standards
– Lacks structural independence
– Applications programming and use complexity
– Implementation limitations
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Network Database Model

• Each record can have multiple parents
– Composed of sets
– Each set has owner record and member record
– Member may have several owners

Figure 1.10

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Network Database Model

• Advantages
– Conceptual simplicity
– Handles more relationship types
– Data access flexibility
– Promotes database integrity
– Data independence
– Conformance to standards
• Disadvantages
– System complexity
– Lack of structural independence

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Relational Database Model

• Perceived by user as a collection of tables for

data storage
• Tables are a series of row/column intersections
• Tables related by sharing common entity
characteristic(s)

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Relational Database Model (con’t.)

Figure 1.11

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Relational Database Model

• Advantages
– Structural independence
– Improved conceptual simplicity
– Easier database design, implementation,
management, and use
– Ad hoc query capability with SQL
– Powerful database management system

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Relational Database Model

• Disadvantages
– Substantial hardware and system software
overhead
– Poor design and implementation is made easy
– May promote “islands of information” problems

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Entity Relationship Database Model

• Complements the relational data model concepts
• Represented in an entity relationship diagram
(ERD)
• Based on entities, attributes, and relationships

Figure 1.13

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Entity Relationship Database Model

• Advantages
– Exceptional conceptual simplicity
– Visual representation
– Effective communication tool
– Integrated with the relational database model
• Disadvantages
– Limited constraint representation
– Limited relationship representation
– No data manipulation language
– Loss of information content

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Object-Oriented Database Model

• Objects or abstractions of real-world entities are
stored
– Attributes describe properties
– Collection of similar objects is a class
• Methods represent real world actions of classes
• Classes are organized in a class hierarchy
– Inheritance is ability of object to inherit attributes
and methods of classes above it

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Comparison of OO
and E-R Data Models

Figure 1.15

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OO Data Model
• Advantages
– Adds semantic content
– Visual presentation includes semantic content
– Database integrity
– Both structural and data independence
• Disadvantages
– Lack of OODM
– Complex navigational data access
– Steep learning curve
– High system overhead slows transactions

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Development of Data Models

Figure 1.16

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Database Models and the Internet

• Characteristics of “Internet age” databases
– Flexible, efficient, and secure Internet access
– Easily used, developed, and supported
– Supports complex data types and relationships
– Seamless interfaces with multiple data sources
and structures
– Simplicity of conceptual database model
– Many database design, implementation, and
application development tools
– Powerful DBMS GUI make DBA job easier

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