Data

It is a collection of facts – unorganized, but able to be organized into useful information. Data are raw facts and
figures in isolation. These isolated facts and figures convey meanings but generally are not useful by them. For
example: Aryan, lives, boy, chabahil, etc.

Information
It is the product or result of processing data into a meaningful form. In other words, we can say that information
is a data which is placed in a meaningful form to the users. For example: “Aryan is a boy and he lives in chabahil”.

Database
A collection of data designed to be used by different people is called a database. A database is a collection of
interrelated data that is organized so that its contents can easily be accessed, managed and updated. In other words,
a database is an organized collection of data. The data are stored in such a fashion that they are independent of
the programs of people using the data.

Database Management System (DBMS)

A database management system (DBMS) is a software tool that allows multiple users to store, access, and process
data or facts into useful information. In other words, a database management system (DBMS) is a system or
software designed to manage a database, and run operations on the data requested by numerous clients.Some
popular DBMS includes dBase, Visual FoxPro, Oracle, DB2, Informix, MS SQL Server, MySQL, and Microsoft
Access

Objective of DBMS
Some of the objectives of DBMS are as follows:
• Provides relevant data to users
• Easy access to data and information
• Provides quick response to the user request for data
• Eliminates the duplicate data
• Allows multiple users to access and share data
• Allows the scalability of database
• Protects data from unauthorized access
• Provides an abstract view of data that hides details of data from users
• Creates relationships between items of data
ADVANTAGES OF DBMS
1. Makes easy to add new data.
2. Makes easy to modify the database.
3. Makes easy to delete existing data
4. Organized the data in proper sequence.
5. It reduces the data redundancy to a large extent.
6. It can control data inconsistency to a large extent.
7. Maintains data integrity i.e. accurate, consistent and up-to-date data
8. Make easy to access the data for the authorized user.
9. Allow multiple users to be active at one time (i.e. data in the database may be shared among several users)
10. Protecting data against unauthorized access.
11. Allow for growth in the database system.
DISADVANTAGES OF DBMS
1. Complex to understand and implement
2. Costly
3. Too many rules
4. Fast changing technology
5. Change of losing the data
6. Chance of data leakage and hacking
7. Unavailability of trained manpower

DBA (Database Administrator)

DBA is a special person (super users) who controls both the data and the programs that access those data, i.e.
controls overall system. The DBA is responsible for ensuring that the data in the database meets the information
needs of the organization. The DBA must have a sound knowledge of the structure of the database & of the
DBMS. The DBA must also be thoroughly conversant with the organization, its system & the information needs
of the managers.
A DBA needs the following:
a. Knowledge of the operating system in which database server is running.
b. Knowledge of SQL
c. Sound knowledge in database design
d. General understanding of network architectures
e. Knowledge about the database server.
Roles/Functions/Responsibilities of database administrator (DBA)
The DBA is responsible for ensuring that:
a) The data in the database meets the information needs of the organization
b) The facilities for retrieving data and for structuring reports are appropriate to the needs of the organization.
c) The DBA is responsible for the data dictionary (data about data or meta- data, i.e. define the structure of
data) and manuals for users describing the facilities the database offers and how to make use of these
facilities.
d) Another function of DBA is to supervise the modification (insert, delete and update) of data.
e) The DBA is also responsible for security of database and requirements of privacy.
f) The DBA is also responsible for database integrity maintenance (changes made to the database, do not result
in a loss of data).
g) The DBA is also responsible for periodic appraisal of the data held in the database to ensure that is complete,
accurate and not duplicated.

Database System Architecture

The architecture of a database system is greatly influenced by the underlying computer system on which the
database system runs.

1. Centralized Database Systems

Centralized database systems are those that run on a single computer system and do not interact with other
computer systems i.e. these database systems are used only in single user system (personal computers). A typical
single user system is a desktop unit used by a single person, has only one CPU, one or two hard disks and has an
operating system that may support only one user. Centralized database works on a client-server basis. The
structure of a centralized databases system is shown in figure.

Client 1 Client 2

SERVER
Database

Client 4 Client 3
2. Distributed Database System
A distributed database system is a collection of databases that shares a common schema and coordinates to access
no local data, i.e., in a distributed database system, the database is stored on several computers. The computers in
a distributed system communicate with one another through various communication media, such as networks or
telephone lines. They do not share main memory or disks. The computer in a distributed system is called site or
nodes. The general structure of distributed system is shown in the figure below.

Network

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CENTRALIZED AND DISTRIBUTED DATABASE SYSTEM

Centralized Database System Distributed Database System

a. Data reside in a single location a. The data reside in several locations

b. Files are kept on the basis of location of disk drives b. Files are kept on the basis of names rather than
and names. location.

c. It does not contain several sites or nodes (i.e., does not c. It contains several computers (sites) and
contain several computers) communicates with one another through
communication media

d. Once the database system fails, it doesn’t operate d. If one site fails, the remaining sites may able to
continue operating

e. No risk of data lost e. High risk of data theft, hacking, etc.

f. Suitable for a single organization like school, college, f. Suitable for a large organization spread in different
industries, etc. of a location. geographical locations.

g. Low cost g. High cost

Data Model
Data Model gives us an idea that how the final system will look like after its complete
implementation. It defines the data elements and the relationships between the data
elements. Data Models are used to show how data is stored, connected, accessed and
updated in the database management system. Here, we use a set of symbols and text to
represent the information so that members of the organization can communicate and
understand it. Though there are many data models being used nowadays but the Relational
model is the most widely used model. Apart from the Relational model, there are many
other types of data models about which we will study in details in this blog. Some of the
Data Models in DBMS are:

1. Hierarchical Model

2. Network Model

3. Entity-Relationship Model

4. Relational Model

Hierarchical Model
Hierarchical Model was the first DBMS model. This model organizes the data in the
hierarchical tree structure. The hierarchy starts from the root which has root data and then
it expands in the form of a tree adding child node to the parent node. This model easily
represents some of the real-world relationships like food recipes, sitemap of a website
etc. Example: We can represent the relationship between the shoes present on a shopping
website in the following way:
Features of a Hierarchical Model

1. One-to-many relationship: The data here is organized in a tree-like structure where

the one-to-many relationship is between the datatypes. Also, there can be only one
path from parent to any node. Example: In the above example, if we want to go to
the node sneakers we only have one path to reach there i.e through men's shoes
node.

2. Parent-Child Relationship: Each child node has a parent node but a parent node
can have more than one child node. Multiple parents are not allowed.

3. Deletion Problem: If a parent node is deleted then the child node is automatically
deleted.

4. Pointers: Pointers are used to link the parent node with the child node and are used
to navigate between the stored data. Example: In the above example the ' shoes '
node points to the two other nodes ' women shoes ' node and ' men's shoes ' node.

Advantages of Hierarchical Model

• It is very simple and fast to traverse through a tree-like structure.

• Any change in the parent node is automatically reflected in the child node so, the
integrity of data is maintained.
Disadvantages of Hierarchical Model

• Complex relationships are not supported.

• As it does not support more than one parent of the child node so if we have some
complex relationship where a child node needs to have two parent node then that
can't be represented using this model.

• If a parent node is deleted then the child node is automatically deleted.

Network Model
This model is an extension of the hierarchical model. It was the most popular model
before the relational model. This model is the same as the hierarchical model, the only
difference is that a record can have more than one parent. It replaces the hierarchical tree
with a graph. Example: In the example below, we can see that node student has two
parents i.e. CSE Department and Library. This was earlier not possible in the hierarchical
model.
Features of a Network Model

1. Ability to Merge more Relationships: In this model, as there are more relationships
so data is more related. This model has the ability to manage one-to-one
relationships as well as many-to-many relationships.

2. Many paths: As there are more relationships so there can be more than one path to
the same record. This makes data access fast and simple.

3. Circular Linked List: The operations on the network model are done with the help
of the circular linked list. The current position is maintained with the help of a
program and this position navigates through the records according to the
relationship.

Advantages of Network Model

 • The data can be accessed faster as compared to the hierarchical model. This is
because the data is more related in the network model and there can be more than
one path to reach a particular node. So the data can be accessed in many ways.

• As there is a parent-child relationship so data integrity is present. Any change in

parent record is reflected in the child record.

Disadvantages of Network Model

• As more and more relationships need to be handled the system might get complex.
So, a user must be having detailed knowledge of the model to work with the model.

• Any change like updating, deletion, insertion is very complex.

Entity-Relationship Model
Entity-Relationship Model or simply ER Model is a high-level data model diagram. In
this model, we represent the real-world problem in the pictorial form to make it easy for
the stakeholders to understand. It is also very easy for the developers to understand the
system by just looking at the ER diagram. We use the ER diagram as a visual tool to
represent an ER Model. ER diagram has the following three components:

• Entities: Entity is a real-world thing. It can be a person, place, or even a

concept. Example: Teachers, Students, Course, Building, Department, etc are some
of the entities of a School Management System.

• Attributes: An entity contains a real-world property called attribute. This is the

characteristics of that attribute. Example: The entity teacher has the property like
teacher id, salary, age, etc.

• Relationship: Relationship tells how two attributes are related. Example: Teacher
works for a department.
Example:

In the above diagram, the entities are Teacher and Department. The attributes
of Teacher entity are Teacher_Name, Teacher_id, Age, Salary, Mobile_Number. The
attributes of entity Department entity are Dept_id, Dept_name. The two entities are
connected using the relationship. Here, each teacher works for a department.

Features of ER Model

• Graphical Representation for Better Understanding: It is very easy and simple to

understand so it can be used by the developers to communicate with the
stakeholders.

• ER Diagram: ER diagram is used as a visual tool for representing the model.

• Database Design: This model helps the database designers to build the database
and is widely used in database design.

Advantages of ER Model
 • Simple: Conceptually ER Model is very easy to build. If we know the relationship
between the attributes and the entities we can easily build the ER Diagram for the
model.

• Effective Communication Tool : This model is used widely by the database

designers for communicating their ideas.

• Easy Conversion to any Model : This model maps well to the relational model and
can be easily converted relational model by converting the ER model to the table.
This model can also be converted to any other model like network model,
hierarchical model etc.

Disadvantages of ER Model

• No industry standard for notation: There is no industry standard for developing an

ER model. So one developer might use notations which are not understood by other
developers.

• Hidden information: Some information might be lost or hidden in the ER model.

As it is a high-level view so there are chances that some details of information might
be hidden.

Relational Model
Relational Model is the most widely used model. In this model, the data is maintained in
the form of a two-dimensional table. All the information is stored in the form of row and
columns. The basic structure of a relational model is tables. So, the tables are also
called relations in the relational model. Example: In this example, we have an Employee
table.
Features of Relational Model

• Tuples : Each row in the table is called tuple. A row contains all the information
about any instance of the object. In the above example, each row has all the
information about any specific individual like the first row has information about
John.

• Attribute or field: Attributes are the property which defines the table or relation.
The values of the attribute should be from the same domain. In the above example,
we have different attributes of the employee like Salary, Mobile_no, etc.

Advantages of Relational Model

• Simple: This model is more simple as compared to the network and hierarchical
model.

• Scalable: This model can be easily scaled as we can add as many rows and columns
we want.

• Structural Independence: We can make changes in database structure without

changing the way to access the data. When we can make changes to the database
structure without affecting the capability to DBMS to access the data we can say
that structural independence has been achieved.
Disadvantages of Relational Model

• Hardware Overheads: For hiding the complexities and making things easier for the
user this model requires more powerful hardware computers and data storage
devices.

• Bad Design: As the relational model is very easy to design and use. So the users
don't need to know how the data is stored in order to access it. This ease of design
can lead to the development of a poor database which would slow down if the
database grows.

But all these disadvantages are minor as compared to the advantages of the relational
model. These problems can be avoided with the help of proper implementation and
organization.