Database Systems

Chapter # 2
Database System Concepts
and Architecture

IMRAN ALI MEMON

LECTURER @ SCHOOL OF IT, SBBUSBA
Introduction

The architecture of DBMS packages has evolved from the early

monolithic systems where the whole DBMS software package was
one tightly integrated system.
In a basic client/server DBMS architecture, the system
functionality is distributed between two types of modules.
A client module is typically designed so that it will run on a user
workstation or personal computer.
The other kind of module, called a server module, typically
handles data storage, access, search, and other functions.
 A major aim of a database system is to provide users with an
abstract view of data, hiding certain details of how data is stored
and manipulated.
DBMS - Architecture
The design of a DBMS depends on its architecture.
The architecture of a DBMS can be seen as either single tier
or multi-tier
In 1-tier architecture, the DBMS is the only entity where the
user directly sits on the DBMS and uses it.
Any changes done here will directly be done on the DBMS
itself.
Database designers and programmers normally prefer to use
single-tier architecture.
If the architecture of DBMS is 2-tier, then it must have an
application through which the DBMS can be accessed.
Programmers use 2-tier architecture where they access the
DBMS by means of an application.
DBMS - Architecture
3-tier Architecture
A 3-tier architecture separates
its tiers from each other based
on the complexity of the users
and how they use the data
present in the database.
It is the most widely used
architecture to design a DBMS.
DBMS - Architecture
Database (Data) Tier At this tier, the database resides
along with its query processing languages.
Application (Middle) Tier At this tier reside the application
server and the programs that access the database.
For a user, this application tier presents an abstracted view of
the database. the application layer sits in the middle and acts
as a mediator between the end-user and the database.
User (Presentation) Tier End-users operate on this tier and
they know nothing about any existence of the database beyond
this layer. At this layer, multiple views of the database can be
provided by the application. All views are generated by
applications that reside in the application tier.
Multiple-tier database architecture is highly modifiable, as almost all
its components are independent and can be changed independently.
Data Models, Schemas, and
Instances
A data modela collection of concepts that can be used to
describe the structure of a database.
By structure of a database we mean the data types,
relationships, and constraints that apply to the data.
Most data models also include a set of basic operations for
specifying retrievals and updates on the database.
Categories of Data Models
Many data models have been proposed, which we can categorize
according to the types of concepts they use to describe the
database structure.
High-level or conceptual data models provide concepts that are
close to the way many users perceive data
low-level or physical data models provide concepts that describe
the details of how data is stored on the computer storage media
Concepts provided by low-level data models are generally meant
for computer specialists, not for end users.
Conceptual data models use concepts such as entities,
attributes, and relationships.
Categories of Data Models
An entity represents a real-world object or concept, such as an
employee or a project from the miniworld that is described in the
database.
An attribute represents some property of interest that further
describes an entity, such as the employees name or salary.
A relationship among two or more entities represents an
association among the entities, for example, employee and a
project.
Schemas(description),
Instances, and Database State
In any data model, it is important to distinguish between the description
of the database and the database itself.
The description of a database is called the database schema, which is
specified during database design and is not expected to change
frequently. The actual data in a database may change quite frequently.
Most data models have certain conventions for displaying schemas as
diagrams
A displayed schema is called a schema diagram
A schema diagram displays only some aspects of a schema, such as the
names of record types and data items, and some types of constraints.
Schemas(description), Instances,
and Database State
Schemas, Instances, and Database
State
Adatabase instanceis a set of memory structures that
managedatabasefiles.
A databaseis a set of physical files on disk created by the
CREATEDATABASEstatement.
Schemas, Instances, and Database
State
The data in the database at a particular moment in time is called
a database state or snapshot(instance).
When we define a new database the corresponding database
state is the empty state with no data.
The DBMS stores the descriptions of the schema constructs and
constraintsalso called the meta-datain the DBMS catalog.
The schema is sometimes called the intension, and a database
state is called an extension of the schema.
The Three-Schema Architecture
The goal of the three-schema architecture, is to separate the user
applications from the physical database.
The internal level has an internal schema, which describes the
physical storage structure of the database.
The conceptual level has a conceptual schema, which describes
the structure of the whole database.
The conceptual schema hides the details of physical storage structures
The external or view level includes a number of external schemas or
user views.
Each external schema describes the part of the database that a
particular user group is interested in and hides the rest of the
database from that user group.
The Three-Level ANSI-SPARC
Architecture
 The levels form a three-level architecture comprising an
external, a conceptual, and an internal level
The way users perceive the data is called the external level.
The way the DBMS and the operating system perceive the data is
the internal level, where the data is actually stored
The conceptual level provides both the mapping and the desired
independence between the external and internal levels
The objective of the three-level architecture is to separate each
users view of the database from the way the database is
physically represented.
Reasons why this separation is
desirable:
Each user should be able to access the same data, but have a different customized
view
of the data.
Each user should be able to change the way he or she views the data, and this
change should not affect other users.
Users should not have to deal directly with physical database storage details
A users interaction with the database should be independent of storage
considerations.
The Database Administrator (DBA) should be able to change the database storage
structures without affecting the users views.
The internal structure of the database should be unaffected by changes to the
physical aspects of storage, such as the changeover to a new storage device.
The DBA should be able to change the conceptual structure of the database
without affecting all users