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College: Department: Course Course Title:
Engineering and Information Information Code: Fundamentals of Database
Technology Technology IM 101 Systems
Faculty: Chairperson:
Rommel P. Apostol, MIT PATRICK LUIS M. FRANCISCO, MIT

Understanding the Flow of Data in Everyday Transactions,

A module in IM 101: Fundamentals of Database Systems
 Foreword
This module aims to help students understand, familiarize, and adopt the use of fundamental data
processes and operation to utilize them in developing more efficient and secure information systems.
This module contains lessons that introduce them to the core concept of database systems and
management and answers the essential questions presented in each part of the module. The learning
outcomes from each part of the module will help the students understand the essential questions given
and at a certain point in the discussions, an evaluation will be done through the use of different
activities.
At the end of this module, the student will be able to understand the basic concepts and use of
database systems and be able to use tools and software in manipulating them.
 Table of Contents
Unit Four
Essential Questions …………………………………………………………………………….. 1
Intended Learning Outcomes …………………………………………………………………... 1
Assesment Task
Diagnostic ………………………………………………………………………………. 1
Formative ……………………………………………………………………………….. 5
Summative ……………………………………………………………………………… 5
Lessons Input …………………………………………………………………………………… 1
References ………………………………………………………………………………………. 6
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Unit Four – Components and Functions of Database Management Systems

This unit introduces the different elements of a database management system and how each part
functions.

 Essential Question
How does the different elements of a Database Management System work?
How can a Database Management System help an organization or entity?

 Intended Learning Outcomes

A look at the different components that make up a Database Management System
Functions of a Database Management System that can help an entity or organization in handling and
managing data

 Diagnostic Assessment Task

At the start of the lesson the instructor will provide the following activities to gauge the students
understanding of the lesson beforehand :
1. The instructor will give students two or three short answer questions or 15-20 multiple choice
questions that ask them about their attitudes and understanding (e.g., their motivations, beliefs,
values, misconceptions about the subject matter, etc.).

 Lessons Input
A database system refers to an organization of components that define and regulate the collection, storage,
management, and use of data within a database environment. From a general management point of view, the
database system is composed of the five major parts: hardware, software, people, procedures, and data
 Hardware. Hardware 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, three types of software are needed: operating system software, DBMS
software, and application programs and utilities.

o Operating 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.
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o 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.

o 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 access data found within the
database 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.

 People. This component includes all users of the database system. Based on primary job functions,
five types of users can be identified in a database system: system administrators, database
administrators, database designers, system analysts and programmers, and end-users.

o System administrators oversee the database system’s general operations.

o Database administrators, also known as DBAs, manage the DBMS and ensure that the
database is functioning properly.

o Database designers design the database structure. They are, in effect, the database architects.
If the database design is poor, even the best application programmers and the most dedicated
DBAs cannot produce a useful database environment.

o System analysts and programmers design and implement application programs. They design
and create the data entry screens, reports, and procedures through which end users access and
manipulate the database’s data.

o End users are the people who use the application programs to run the organization’s daily
operations.

 Procedures. Procedures are the instructions and rules that govern the design and use of the database
system. Procedures are critical, although occasionally forgotten, components of the system.
Procedures play an important role in a company because 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.
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Figure 15. The Database System Environment

DBMS Functions
 Data dictionary management. The DBMS stores definitions of the data elements and their relationships
(metadata) in a data dictionary. In turn, all programs that access the data in the database work through the
DBMS. 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.
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Figure 16. Data and Data Dictionary

 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. Data storage management is also important for database performance tuning. Performance
tuning relates to the activities that make the database perform more efficiently in terms of storage and
access speed.

Figure 17. Data Storage Management

 Data transformation and presentation. The DBMS transforms entered data to conform to the required
data structures. The DBMS relieves you of the chore of making a distinction between the logical data
format and the physical data format. That is the DBMS formats the physically retrieved data to make it
conform to the user’s logical expectations.

 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.

 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. Recovery management deals with the recovery of the database
after a failure, such as a bad sector in the disk or power failure.

 Data integrity management. The DBMS promotes and enforces integrity rules, thus minimizing data
redundancy and maximizing data consistency. The data relationships stored in the data dictionary are used
to enforce data integrity.
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Data Integrity Rules are the rules that can be applied to table columns to enforce different types
of data integrity.

 Database access languages and application programming interfaces. The DBMS provides data access
through a query language. A query language is a nonprocedural language—one that lets the user specify
what must be done without having to specify how it is to be done. Structured Query Language(SQL) is
the de-facto query language and data access standard supported by the majority of DBMS vendors.

(Application Programming Interface) or API is a language and message format used by an

application program to communicate with the operating system or some other control program
such as a database management system (DBMS) or communications protocol.

 Database communication interfaces. Current-generation DBMSs accept end-user requests via multiple,
different network environments.

 Formative Assessment Task

1. After the students have listenened to the lecture, asked them to reflect on what they were
doing during your presentation and how it helped or hindered their understanding. Have them
write it anonymously and turn it in. Read and offer suggestions on how they can improve
listening and self-monitoring skills.

*** End of Lesson Input ***

 Summative Assessment Task

Answer the following questions and support your answer :
1. Is it possible for a database system to exists when one component is missing ?
2. What component do you consider as the most important of a database system ?
3. Give one function of DBMS that you consider as the most important.
4. Give one function of DBMS that you consider as the least most important and can be
removed.

References
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Garcia-Molina, H.,Ullman, J.,Widom, J. (2008). Database Systems: The Complete Book (2nd ed., pp 15-
55). Pearson