Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B.

Navathe
 CHAPTER 1

Databases and Database Users

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 2

OUTLINE
Types of Databases and Database Applications
Basic Definitions
Typical DBMS Functionality
Example of a Database (UNIVERSITY)
Main Characteristics of the Database Approach
Types of Database Users
Advantages of Using the Database Approach
Historical Development of Database Technology
Extending Database Capabilities
When Not to Use Databases

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 3

Types of Databases and Database
Applications
Traditional Applications:
Numeric and Textual Databases
E.g. stock administration: keeping track of the number ofproducts in
stock
More Recent Applications:
Multimedia Databases. Eg. Spotify ,
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Biological and Genome Databases
Data Warehouses
Mobile databases
Real-time and Active Databases

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 4

Types of Databases and Database
Applications

First part of book focuses on traditional applications

A number of recent applications are described later in thebook (for example, Chapters
24,25,26,27,28,29)

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 5

Recent Developments (1)
Social Networks started capturing a lot of information about
people and about communications among people-posts,
tweets,photos, videos in systems such as:
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Linked-In
All of the above constitutes data
Search Engines- Google, Bing, Yahoo : collect their
own repository of web pages for searching
purposes
Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe
Slide 1- 6
Recent Developments (2)
New Technologies are emerging from the so-called non-database
software vendors to manage vast amounts of data generated on
the web:

Big Data storage systems involving large clusters of

distributed computers (Chapter 25)
NOSQL (Not Only SQL) systems (Chapter 24). NoSQL isoften
mentioned in conjunction with other big data tools such as massive
parallel processing, columnar-based databases and Database-as-a-
Service (DaaS).
A large amount of data now resides on the “cloud” whichmeans it is
in huge data centers using thousands of machines.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 7

Basic Definitions
Database:
A collection of related data.
Data:
Known facts that can be recorded and have an implicit meaning.
Mini-world:
Some part of the real world about which data is stored in a database. For
example, student grades and transcripts at auniversity.
Database Management System (DBMS):
A software package/ system to facilitate the creation andmaintenance
of a computerized database.
Database System:
The DBMS software together with the data itself. Sometimes, theapplications are
also included.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 8

Basic Definitions
Database:
A collection of related data.
A database has the following implicit properties:
Has a source : A database represents some aspect of the real world, the
miniworld. Changes to the miniworld are reflected in thedatabase.
Has a form: A database is a logically coherent collection of data with some
inherent meaning. A random assortment of data cannotcorrectly be referred to as
a database.
Has an audience: A database is designed, built, and populated with data for a
specific purpose. It has an intended group of users.
Persistent storage(ch#17).
Computerized.
A database can be of any size and complexity.( from personaltax database
on Microsoft access to amazon.com database).

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 9

Impact of Databases and Database
Technology
Businesses: Banking, Insurance, Retail,
Transportation, Healthcare, Manufacturing
Service Industries: Financial, Real-estate, Legal,Electronic
Commerce, Small businesses
Education : Resources for content and Delivery
More recently: Social Networks, Environmentaland
Scientific Applications, Medicine and Genetics
Personalized Applications: based on smartmobile
devices

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 10

Simplified database system environment

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 11

Typical DBMS Functionality
Define a particular database in terms of its data types,structures,
and constraints
Construct or Load the initial database contents on asecondary
storage medium
Manipulating the database:
Retrieval: Querying, generating reports
Modification: Insertions, deletions and updates to its content
Accessing the database through Web applications
Processing and Sharing by
a set of concurrent users andapplication
programs – yet, keeping all data valid and consistent

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 12

Typical DBMS Functionality

DBMS must not allow unauthorized users toaccess

data
DBMS must keep up with changing user
requirements against the database

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 13

Application Activities Against a
Database
Applications interact with a database by
generating
- Queries: that access different parts of data and
formulate the result of a request
- Transactions: is an executing program that formsa
logical unit of database processing.
- transaction includes one or more database access
operations including insertion, deletion,modification, or
retrieval operations.
need to be committed or aborted
EX: transfer money from bank account.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 14

Application Activities Against a
Database
Applications interact with a database by
generating
- Queries example:
( SELECT MAX (Salary) FROM EMPLOYEE WHERE Dno=5 )

- Transactions example:

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 15

Additional DBMS Functionality
DBMS may additionally provide:
Protection or Security measures to prevent
unauthorized access.
Protection includes: system protection against hardware orsoftware
malfunction (or crashes); and security protection against unauthorized or
malicious access.
“Active” processing to take internal actions on data
Presentation and Visualization of data
Maintenance of the database and associated programsover the
lifetime of the database application. By allowing the system to
evolve as requirements change over time.
Called database, software, and system maintenance

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 16

Example of a Database
(with a Conceptual Data Model)
Mini-world for the example:
Part of a UNIVERSITY environment.
Some mini-world entities:
STUDENTs
COURSEs
SECTIONs (of COURSEs)
(academic) DEPARTMENTs
INSTRUCTORs

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 17

Example of a Database
(with a Conceptual Data Model)
Some mini-world relationships:
SECTIONs are of specific COURSEs
STUDENTs take SECTIONs
COURSEs have prerequisite COURSEs
INSTRUCTORs teach SECTIONs
COURSEs are offered by DEPARTMENTs
STUDENTs major in DEPARTMENTs

Note: The above entities and relationships are typically expressed in

a conceptual data model, such as the ENTITY-RELATIONSHIP data
model (see Chapters 3, 4)

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 18

Example of a simple database

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe

Slide 1- 19
Example of a simple database

Database manipulation involves querying andupdating.

Examples of queries are as follows:
Retrieve the transcript—a list of all courses and grades—of
‘Smith’
List the names of students who took the section of the ‘Database’
course offered in fall 2008 and theirgrades in that section
List the prerequisites of the ‘Database’ course

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 20

Example of a simple database

Database manipulation involves querying and

updating.
Examples of updates include the following:
Change the class of ‘Smith’ to sophomore
Create a new section for the ‘Database’ course forthis semester
Enter a grade of ‘A’ for ‘Smith’ in the ‘Database’section of last
semester

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 21

File based approach

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 22

A database-oriented approach

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 23

Main Characteristics of the Database
Approach

Self-describing nature of a database system:

A DBMS catalog stores the description of a particulardatabase
(e.g. data structures, types, and constraints)
The description is called meta-data*.
This allows the DBMS software to work with differentdatabase
applications.
Insulation between programs and data:
Called program-data independence.
Allows changing data structures and storage organizationwithout
having to change the DBMS access programs.

* Some newer systems such as a few NOSQL systems need no meta-data:

they store the data definition within its structuremaking it self describing

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 24

Example of a simplified database catalog

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 25

Main Characteristics of the DatabaseApproach
(continued)

Data Abstraction:
A data model is used to hide storage details andpresent the users
with a conceptual view of the database.
Programs refer to the data model constructs rather than data
storage details
Support of multiple views of the data:
Each user may see a different view of the database,
which describes only the data ofinterest to that user.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 26

Main Characteristics of the DatabaseApproach
(continued)

Sharing of data and multi-user transactionprocessing:

Allowing a set of concurrent users to retrieve from and toupdate the
database.
Concurrency control within the DBMS guarantees that each
transaction is correctly executed or aborted
Recovery subsystem ensures each completed transactionhas its effect
permanently recorded in the database
OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) is a major part of database
applications. This allows hundreds of concurrenttransactions to
execute per second.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 27

Concurency Control

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 28

Database Users
Users may be divided into
Those who actually use and control the databasecontent, and those who
design, develop and maintain database applications (called “Actors onthe
Scene”), and
Those who design and develop the DBMS software and related tools, and
the computer systems operators (called “Workers Behind theScene”).

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 29

Database Users – Actors on the
Scene

Actors on the scene

Database administrators:
Responsible for authorizing access to the database,for
coordinating and monitoring its use, acquiring software and
hardware resources, controlling its use and monitoring
efficiency of operations.
Database Designers:
Responsible to define the content, the structure, the
constraints, and functions or transactions against the
database. They must communicate with the end-users and
understand their needs.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 30

Database End Users
Actors on the scene (continued)
End-users: They use the data for queries, reportsand some
of them update the database content. End-users can be
categorized into:
Casual: access database occasionally when needed,
typically middle- or high-level managers.
Naïve or Parametric: they make up a large sectionof the end-
user population.
They use previously well-defined functions in the form of“canned
transactions” against the database.
Users of Mobile Apps mostly fall in this category
Bank-tellers or reservation clerks are parametric userswho do this
activity for an entire shift of operations.
Social Media Users post and read information from
websites Slide 1- 31
Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe
Database End Users (continued)
Sophisticated:
These include business analysts, scientists, engineers, and others
thoroughly familiar with the DBMS capabilities.
Many use tools in the form of software packages that workclosely with
the stored database, in order to implement their own applications to meet
their complex requirements.
Stand-alone:
Mostly maintain personal databases using ready-to-usepackaged
applications.
An example is the user of a tax program that creates itsown internal
database.
Another example is a user that maintains a database ofpersonal
photos and videos.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 32

Database Users – Actors on the
Scene (continued)
System Analysts and Application Developers
This category currently accounts for a very large proportionof the IT work
force.
System Analysts: They understand the user requirements of naïve and
sophisticated users and designapplications including canned
transactions to meet thoserequirements.
Application Programmers: Implement the specifications developed
by analysts and test and debugthem before deployment.
Business Analysts: There is an increasing need forsuch people who
can analyze vast amounts of business data and real-time data (“Big
Data”) for better decision making related to planning, advertising,
marketing etc.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 33

Database Users – Actors behind the
Scene
DBMS System Designers and Implementors: Design and implement
DBMS packages in the form of modules and interfaces and test and debug
them. The DBMSmust interface with applications, language compilers,
operating system components, etc.
Tool Developers: Design and implement software systems called tools for
modeling and designing databases, performance monitoring, prototyping, test
data generation, user interface creation, simulation etc. that facilitate building
ofapplications and allow using database effectively. Optional packages that
are often purchased separately.
Operators and Maintenance Personnel: They manage the actual running
and maintenance of the databasesystem hardware and software
environment.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 34

Advantages of Using the Database
Approach
Controlling redundancy in data storage and in
development and maintenance efforts.
Sharing of data among multiple users.
Restricting unauthorized access to data. Only theDBA
staff uses privileged commands and facilities.
Providing persistent storage for program Objects
E.g., Object-oriented DBMSs make programobjects
persistent– see Chapter 12.
Providing Storage Structures (e.g. indexes) forefficient
Query Processing – see Chapter 17.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 35

Advantages of Using the Database
Approach (continued)
Providing optimization of queries for efficient
processing.
Providing backup and recovery services.
Providing multiple interfaces to different classesof
users.
Representing complex relationships among data.
Enforcing integrity constraints on the database.
Drawing inferences and actions from the storeddata
using deductive and active rules and triggers.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 36

When not to use a DBMS
Main inhibitors (costs) of using a DBMS:
High initial investment and possible need for additional hardware.
Overhead for providing generality, security, concurrency control,
recovery, and integrity functions.
When a DBMS may be unnecessary:
If the database and applications are simple, well defined, and not
expected to change.
If access to data by multiple users is not required.
When a DBMS may be infeasible:
In embedded systems where a general purpose DBMS maynot fit in available
storage

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 45

When not to use a DBMS
When no DBMS may suffice:
If there are stringent real-time requirements that may
not be met because of DBMS overhead (e.g.,
telephone switching systems)
If the database system is not able to handle the complexity of
data because of modeling limitations(e.g., in complex genome
and protein databases)
If the database users need special operations notsupported
by the DBMS (e.g., GIS and location based services).

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 46

Chapter Summary
Types of Databases and Database Applications
Basic Definitions
Typical DBMS Functionality
Example of a Database (UNIVERSITY)
Main Characteristics of the Database Approach
Types of Database Users
Advantages of Using the Database Approach
Historical Development of Database Technology
Extending Database Capabilities
When Not to Use Databases

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 47