Chapter 1.

Overview of Database
Management System
Aim
To provide knowledge on basic concepts of Database
Management System
Instructional Objectives
Objectives of this chapter are:
• Describe purpose of DBMS with its components
• Explain views of data
• Explain different data models
• Describe the types of Database languages used for data management
• Explain database System Architecture and data independence
• Explain the responsibilities of database administrator and database users
Purpose of DBMS with its components
Database Management System (DBMS)
• A Database Management System (DBMS) is a software system designed to store, manage, and
facilitate access to databases.
• Collection of interrelated data
• Set of programs to access the data
• DBMS contains information about a particular enterprise
• DBMS provides an environment that is both convenient and efficient to use.
• Database Applications:
• Banking: all transactions
• Airlines: reservations, schedules
• Universities: registration, grades
• Sales: customers, products, purchases

• Databases touch all aspects of our lives

Describe purpose of DBMS with its components
• Overcome the drawbacks of file processing systems

• Software to create, retrieve, update and manage database

• DBMS is a middleware between the database

• DBMS can limit what data to be viewed by the end users

Describe purpose of DBMS with its components

SQL
Database
Application DBMS
Programs

Users Database

DBMS Components
Characteristics of DBMS
• A modern DBMS has the following characteristics −
• Real-world entity − A modern DBMS is more realistic and uses real-world entities to design its
architecture. It uses the behavior and attributes too. For example, a school database may use students as
an entity and their age as an attribute.
• Relation-based tables − DBMS allows entities and relations among them to form tables. A user can
understand the architecture of a database just by looking at the table names.
• Less redundancy − DBMS follows the rules of normalization, which splits a relation when any of its
attributes is having redundancy in values. Normalization is a mathematically rich and scientific process
that reduces data redundancy.
• Consistency − Consistency is a state where every relation in a database remains consistent. There exist
methods and techniques, which can detect attempt of leaving database in inconsistent state. A DBMS can
provide greater consistency as compared to earlier forms of data storing applications like file-processing
systems.
• Query Language − DBMS is equipped with query language, which makes it more efficient to retrieve and
manipulate data. A user can apply as many and as different filtering options as required to retrieve a set
of data. Traditionally it was not possible where file-processing system was used.
Characteristics of DBMS
• Multiuser and Concurrent Access − DBMS supports multi-user
environment and allows them to access and manipulate data in parallel.
Though there are restrictions on transactions when users attempt to handle
the same data item, but users are always unaware of them.
• Multiple views − DBMS offers multiple views for different users. A user who
is in the Sales department will have a different view of database than a
person working in the Production department. This feature enables the
users to have a concentrate view of the database according to their
requirements.
• Security − DBMS offers many different levels of security features, which
enables multiple users to have different views with different features.
Advantages of DBMS.
• Due to its centralized nature, the database system can overcome the disadvantages of the file system-based system

• Data abstraction: Application program should not be exposed to details of data representation and storage.
DBMS provides the abstract view that hides these details.

• Efficient data access: DBMS utilizes a variety of sophisticated techniques to store and retrieve data efficiently.

• Data integrity and security: Data is accessed through DBMS, it can enforce integrity constraints. E.g.: Inserting
salary information for an employee.

• Data Administration: When users share data, centralizing the data is an important task, Experience professionals
can minimize data redundancy and perform fine tuning which reduces retrieval time.

• Concurrent access and Crash recovery: DBMS schedules concurrent access to the data. DBMS protects user from
the effects of system failure.

• Reduced application development time: DBMS supports important functions that are common to many
applications.
 Quiz / Assessment
1) Data is______________
a. Collection of related data items
b. Facts or figures, or information that is stored in or used by a computer
c. Collection of related records
d. Collection of related relations

2) Collection of related data items is _______

a. Record c. Database
b. Data d. Table
Views of data in DBMS
Explain views of data in DBMS
End users 1 End user 2 End user n
External ……
View 1 View 2 View n
Level

Conceptual
Conceptual Schema
Level

Internal Internal Schema

Level
User
Interface

Databas
e
Views of data in DBMS
• A collection of interrelated data and a set of programs that allow users to access and modify
these data is a database system. The main purpose of database system is to provide users with an
abstract view of data. Certain details on how the data is stored and maintained is hidden by
database system.
• Data Abstraction:
• A system must retrieve data efficiently for it to be usable. Complex data structures are used by
designers to represent the data in database because of need for efficiency. To simplify user
interactions, designers hide the complexity through various levels of abstraction from database
users. The process of hiding irrelevant details from user is called as data abstraction.
• There are various levels of abstraction in which you can view data. It includes:
• Physical View
• Conceptual View
• External View
Views of data in DBMS
• Physical View: The physical view or internal schema is the lowest level of
abstraction that explains how the data like files, indices, etc., is actually stored
on the random access disk system. It also describes the complex low-level data
structures.
• Conceptual View: The conceptual view is also referred to as logical level is the
next higher level of abstraction. This level describes what data are stored in the
database and what relationships exist among those data i.e., the logical level
describes the entire database in terms of small number of relatively simple
structures.
• External View: The external view or external schema is the highest level of
abstraction. This view level of abstraction is only a part of the entire database
and simplifies the interaction between user and system. It provides various
views for the same database. In the relational model, this view level presents
data as a set of relations.
Quiz / Assessment
1) The _______data structures are described in the physical level.
a. Complex high-level c. Simple low-level
b. Complex low-level d. Simple high-level

2) The three levels of data abstraction are ________, ______ and ______
a. Physical level, logical level and view level
b. Physical level, lower level and view level
c. Physical level, logical level and background level
d. Physical level, upper level and view level
Different Data Models
Explain different data models
Data model is defined as
“A collection of conceptual tools for describing data, data relationships, data
semantics and consistency constraints.”

• Provides the design of a database at the physical, logical and view levels

• Defines how data is connected to each other and how they are processed and
stored inside the system.
Explain different data models
Entity Relationship

Relational

Data Model
Object-Based Relationship

Semi-Structured

Types of Data Models

Data models
• Entity Relationship model: Collection of basic objects is called as entities and relationships amongst
these basic objects are used by the Entity-Relationship (E-R) data model. In the real world, an entity is a
‘thing’ or an ‘object’ that can be distinguishable from other objects. Database design widely uses the E-
R data model.
• Relational Model: A collection of tables to represent both the data and the relationships among those
data is used by the relational model. The tables are also known as relations and each table has multiple
columns that have a unique name. The database management systems today mostly are based on the
relational data model.
• Object-based data model: One of the dominant software-development methodology is the object-
oriented programming, which led to the development of an object-oriented data model that can be seen
as extending the E-R model with notions of encapsulation, methods and object identity. The features of
the object-oriented data model and relational data model is combined in the object-relational data
model. The features of inheritance, polymorphism and classes and objects will be applied on relations.
• Semi-structured data model: The specification of data where individual data items of the same type
may have different sets of attributes are permitted in the semi structured data model. The semi-
structured data that is widely used is the eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML).
Data models
• Hierarchical Model: This database model organizes data into a tree-like-structure,
with a single root, to which all the other data is linked. The hierarchy starts from
the Root data, and expands like a tree, adding child nodes to the parent nodes.
• In this model, a child node will only have a single parent node.
• Network model: This is an extension of the Hierarchical model. In this model data
is organized more like a graph, and are allowed to have more than one parent node.
• In this database model data is more related as more relationships are established in
this database model. Also, as the data is more related, hence accessing the data is
also easier and fast. This database model was used to map many-to-many data
relationships.
Quiz / Assessment
1) A collection of tables to represent both the data and the relationships
among those data is used by the ___________.
a. Database system c. Data
b. Table d. Relational model
2) The features of the object-oriented data model and relational data model
is combined in the object-__________ data model.
a. Reaction c. Relational
b. Reality d. Real
Database Languages
Describe the types of database languages used for data management
• Defines the database structure or schema
• Create and destroy database objects and whole database
• Primarily used by database administrators

CREATE ALTER

DDL

DROP RENAME
Describe the types of database languages used for data management
Data Manipulation Language [DML]
• Permits user to manipulate data in database
• DML commands are not auto-committed

INSERT DELETE SELECT UPDATE

DML
Describe the types of database languages used for data management
Data Control Language [DCL]
• Used to create privileges for users in accessing and
manipulating database
• Handles security issues in database
GRANT REVOKE

DCL
Describe the types of database languages used for data management
Transaction Control Language [TCL]
• Used to manage transactions in database
• Allows statements to be grouped together into logical transactions

COMMIT

ROLLBACK TCL

SAVEPOINT
Database System Architecture and Data
Independence
Meta Data
• A metadata (also called the data dictionary) is the data about the data. It is the
self describing nature of the database that provides program-data
independence. It is also called as the System Catalog. It holds the
following information about each data element in the databases, it normally
includes:
• + Name
• + Type
• + Range of values
• + Source
• + Access authorization

Enter the Name of Presentation 30

Data Independence
• Data Independence is defined as a property of DBMS that helps you to change the
Database schema at one level of a database system without requiring to change
the schema at the next higher level.
• Data independence helps you to keep data separated from all programs that make
use of it.
• There are two types of Data Independence:
• Logical Data Independence: Logical data independence is the ability to modify
the logical schema without causing application program to be rewritten.
• Physical Data Independence: All the schemas are logical, and the actual data is
stored in bit format on the disk. Physical data independence is the power to
change the physical data without impacting the schema or logical data.
Explain database System Architecture and data independence

Operating
System

DBMS

Central
Computer
Database

Computer Systems
Centralised Database System
Explain database System Architecture and data independence

Client Client Client …………… Client

……..

Server

Client Server Model

Server Systems
• There are two kinds of server systems. They are:
• Transaction servers: Transaction server systems are also known as SQL server
systems or Query server systems. The clients send the requests to server
system to perform an action. The system executes the transaction and sends the
results to client. Requests are specified by specialised application programme
interface or by using SQL and communicated to the server through Remote
procedure call (RPC) mechanism.
Explain database System Architecture and data independence

Server System Architecture - Transaction Server

Explain database System Architecture and data independence
• Used in local area networks where there is high-speed
connectivity between server and clients
• Delivers database servers
• Performs tasks such as
o data analysis
o data storage
o data manipulation
o data archiving and
o other tasks using client/server architecture
Server System Architecture - Data Server
Explain database System Architecture and data independence

Distributed Systems
Explain database System Architecture and data independence

PROCESSOR PROCESSOR PROCESSOR ………………….... PROCESSOR

MEMORY

Parallel Systems
Responsibilities of DBA and database users
Explain the responsibilities of database administrator and database
users
• Application Programmers: They are the developers who interact with the
database by means of DML queries.
• Sophisticated Users: They are database developers, who write SQL queries to
select/insert/delete/update data. They do not use any application or programs
to request the database.
• Specialized Users: These are also sophisticated users, but they write special
database application programs. They are the developers who develop the
complex programs to the requirement.
• Naive Users: These are the users who use the existing application to interact
with the database. For example, online library system, ticket booking systems,
ATMs etc which has existing application and users use them to interact with
the database to fulfill their requests.
Explain the responsibilities of database administrator and database
users
• Installing and upgrading the DBMS Servers

• Design and implementation

• Performance tuning

• Migrate database servers

• Backup and Recovery

• Security

• Documentation
 Database Interfaces
• Different Interfaces
• Menu-Based Interfaces for Web Clients or Browsing
• Present users with list of options (menus)

• Lead user through formulation of request

• Query is composed of selection options from menu displayed by system.

• Forms-Based Interfaces :
• Displays a form to each user.

• User can fill out form to insert new data or fill out only certain entries.

• Designed and programmed for naïve users as interfaces to canned transactions.

Enter the Name of Presentation 43

 Database Interfaces
• Graphical User Interfaces :
• Displays a schema to the user in diagram form.
• The user can specify a query by manipulating the diagram. GUIs use both forms and menus.
• Natural Language Interfaces:
• Accept requests in written English or other languages and attempt to understand them.
• Interface has its own schema, and a dictionary of important words. Uses the schema and dictionary to interpret a
natural language request.
• Interfaces for Parametric Users:
• Parametric users number of kehave small set of operations they perform.
• Analysts and programmers design and implement a special interface for each class of naïve users.
• Often a small set of commands included to minimize the ystrokes required. (I.e. function keys)
• Interfaces for the DBA:
• Systems contain privileged commands only for DBA staff.
• Include commands for creating accounts, setting parameters, authorizing accounts, changing the
schema, reorganizing the storage structures etc.

Enter the Name of Presentation 44

Quiz / Assessment
1) The users who interact with the system through data manipulation
language calls are ______
a. Sophisticated Users c. Application Programmers
b. Specialised Users d. Naïve Users

2) The sophisticated professionals who write specific database

applications are ______
a. Sophisticated Users c. Application Programmers
b. Naïve Users d. Specialised Users
Activity
Activity can be either offline or online

• List a few relational database

management systems that have been
Online Activity used today. Select one among them
(30 min) and prepare a presentation of 10-15
slides to give a brief overview of that
RDBMS. Example: Oracle, MySQL etc.

Note: Refer Table of Content for the activities

Summary
o DBMS is a general-purpose software system that facilitates the processes of defining,
construction, manipulating and sharing databases among various users and applications

o The three levels of data abstraction are Physical level, Logical level and view level

o The different categories of data models are: Relational model, The Entity-Relationship Model,
Object-based Data Model and Semi-structured Data Model

o The four different types of database- system users are Naïve users, Application programmers,
sophisticated users and specialised users
e-References
• Codex.. DBMS. Retrieved January 07, 2016, from http://codex.cs.yale.edu/avi/db-
book/db4/slide-dir/ch1-2.pdf
• Eazynotes. Introduction to DBMS. Retrieved January 07, 2016, from
http://www.eazynotes.com/pages/database-management-system/introduction-to-
dbms.html
• CS.Sfu. Introduction to DBMS. Retrieved on January 13, 2016, from
http://www.cs.sfu.ca/CourseCentral/354/zaiane/material/notes/Chapter1/node1.h
tml
• Tutorials Point. Database Management System. Retrieved on January 15, 2016 from
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/dbms/
External Resources
1. WAGmob. (2016). DBMS . USA: GoLearningBus.Forouzan.

2. Bagui, S., & Earp, R. (2012). Database Design Using Entity-Relationship Diagrams USA:
Library of Congress.

3. Silberschatz. A &Korth. H.F &Sudarshan. S ( 2004). Database System Concepts