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CSC 602 - Assignment 6

This document contains Chris Grenard's assignment on database concepts. It defines various database terms related to file organization, keys, data types, and indexing. It also contrasts terms like partitioning and different database components. The major inputs and decisions for physical database design are outlined. Objectives for selecting data types and recommendations for indexes to optimize a sample query are provided.

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640 views3 pages

CSC 602 - Assignment 6

This document contains Chris Grenard's assignment on database concepts. It defines various database terms related to file organization, keys, data types, and indexing. It also contrasts terms like partitioning and different database components. The major inputs and decisions for physical database design are outlined. Objectives for selecting data types and recommendations for indexes to optimize a sample query are provided.

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mstrofdisaster
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chris Grenard Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Assignment #6

Chapter 6 – Review Questions [1,3,4,5,8]

Question 1: Define each of the following terms


a. file organization – a method of storing and arranging records on a physical storage
medium.
b. sequential file organization – an organization scheme where files are stored in
sequential order, usually determined by the primary key value
c. indexed file organization – the storage of records with an index that points to the
physical location of the file on the disk
d. hashing file organization - the storage of records using an indexing scheme that
generates unique physical file locations using a hashing algorithm to create a
unique location value.
e. Denormalization – the process of un-structuring normalized relations in order to
achieve database performance improvements. Data that may be in 2 or more
tables can be combined into one table so long as unique records still exist after
denormalization.
f. composite key – a primary key which consists of two or more values that when
combined form a unique identifier for each row in a given table.
g. secondary key – one or more fields in a table row that may have duplicate value
combinations in the same table.
h. data type – the DBMS recognized expected field entry for a given database field,
examples: integer, text, datetime
i. bitmap index – a matrix that organizes row locations and row counts for indexed
fields in a table.
j. RAID – Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, used to improve access speed,
enable partitioning and striping, and provide redundancy in case of a drive failure.

Chris Grenard CSC602 Assignment 6


k. Join index – an index present on two or more tables that indexes the same values
in each table involved in the join.
l. Stripe – the process of spreading data across multiple drives in a RAID array to
balance load across all available drives. Striping keeps all drives equally busy
with I/O operations.
m. Explain Plan – a text or graphical representation of query costs as reported by the
DBMS. It can show where excessive time is being spent on a query operation and
be used to improve performance in recognized trouble spots.

Question 3: Contrast the following terms –


a. horizontal partitioning; vertical partitioning: horizontal partitioning puts the rows
of a table into many different files, whereas vertical partitioning puts the columns
of a table into many physical records
b. physical file; tablespace: a physical file is the data file stored on a hard drive and
the tablespace is contained within the physical file and contains the database
tables.
c. physical record; physical file: a physical record are the contiguous memory
locations assembled as a result set from the DBMS, a physical file is the data file
that holds all of the relational data on the hard drive.
d. page; physical record – a page is the amount of data returned as an I/O request, a
physical file is the data file stored on a hard drive
e. secondary key; primary key – a secondary key is one or more fields in a table row
that may have duplicate value combinations in the same table, a primary key is
always a unique value that identifies one and only one row in a table.

Question 4: What are the major inputs into physical database design?
Normalized (and in some cases denormalized) relations, all fields and data types
identified, data usage predictions/analysis, expected response time, data constraints and
validation rules, security, and backup procedures.

Chris Grenard CSC602 Assignment 6


Question 5: What are the key decisions in physical database design?
-Choosing the appropriate storage format: single drive, RAID array?
-Ensuring that relations are properly grouped when assembled into physical records
-File organization – selection of an indexing scheme
-Selecting the correct indexes on tables
-Determining the best way to use the file organization and indexing schemes to optimize
database performance

Question 8: What are the objectives of selecting a data type for a field?
- by selecting the data type of a field we use the minimum amount of space to store
its values
- we ensure that fields do not accept incorrect data types, i.e. text in a datetime field

Problems & Exercises


Question 1a: There should be three indexes created for this query to optimize its
performance:
1) Index (STUDENT.StudentId) – this is the primary key and should be indexed
by default
2) Index (STUDENT.StudentId, STUDENT.GPA) – this index combines the
primary key and an attribute (GPA) used in the WHERE clause of the query
3) Index (REGISTRATION.Student_Id) - this index should be created as it is
being used as a join field with the student table

Question 1b:
1) CREATE UNIQUE INDEX STUDENTINDEX ON STUDENT(STUDENT_ID)
2) CREATE UNIQUE INDEX STUDENTINDEX ON STUDENT(STUDENT_ID,GPA)
3) CREATE INDEX STUDENTINDEX ON REGISTRATION(STUDENT_ID)

Chris Grenard CSC602 Assignment 6

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