RECORD STORAGE AND PRIMARY

FILE ORGANIZATION
Chapter 5
DBMS - Storage System

■ Databases are stored in file formats, which contain records. At physical level, the
actual data is stored in electromagnetic format on some device.
■ These storage devices can be broadly categorized into three types −
Primary Storage −
■ The memory storage that is directly accessible to the CPU comes under this
category. CPU's internal memory (registers), fast memory (cache), and
■ main memory (RAM) are directly accessible to the CPU, as they are all placed on
the motherboard or CPU chipset.
■ This storage is typically very small, ultra-fast, and volatile.
■ Primary storage requires continuous power supply in order to maintain its state. In
case of a power failure, all its data is lost.
Secondary and Tertiary Storage −
■ Secondary storage devices are used to store data for future use or as backup.
■ Secondary storage includes memory devices that are not a part of the CPU chipset
or motherboard,
– for example, magnetic disks, optical disks (DVD, CD, etc.), hard disks, flash
drives, and magnetic tapes

■ Tertiary storage is used to store huge volumes of data.

■ Since such storage devices are external to the computer system, they are the
slowest in speed.
■ These storage devices are mostly used to take the back up of an entire system.
■ Optical disks and magnetic tapes are widely used as tertiary storage.
 Memory Hierarchy
■ A computer system has a well-defined hierarchy of memory.
■ A CPU has direct access to it main memory as well as its inbuilt registers.
■ The access time of the main memory is obviously less than the CPU speed. To minimize
this speed mismatch, cache memory is introduced.
■ Cache memory provides the fastest access time and it contains data that is most
frequently accessed by the CPU.
■ The memory with the fastest access is the costliest one.
■ Larger storage devices offer slow speed and they are less expensive, however they can
store huge volumes of data as compared to CPU registers or cache memory.
Magnetic Disks
■ Hard disk drives are the most common secondary storage devices in present computer
systems.
■ These are called magnetic disks because they use the concept of magnetization to store
information.
■ Hard disks consist of metal disks coated with magnetizable material. These disks are placed
vertically on a spindle. A read/write head moves in between the disks and is used to
magnetize or de-magnetize the spot under it. A magnetized spot can be recognized as 0
(zero) or 1 (one).
■ Hard disks are formatted in a well-defined order to store data efficiently.
■ A hard disk plate has many concentric circles on it, called tracks. Every track is further
divided into sectors. A sector on a hard disk typically stores 512 bytes of data.
 Redundant Array of Independent Disks
■ RAID or Redundant Array of Independent Disks, is a technology to connect multiple
secondary storage devices and use them as a single storage media.
■ RAID consists of an array of disks in which multiple disks are connected together to achieve
different goals. RAID levels define the use of disk arrays.

RAID 0
• In this level, a striped array of disks is implemented.
• The data is broken down into blocks and the blocks are distributed among disks.
• Each disk receives a block of data to write/read in parallel.
• It enhances the speed and performance of the storage device.
• There is no parity and backup in Level 0.
RAID 1
■ RAID 1 uses mirroring techniques. When data is sent to a RAID controller, it sends a copy of
data to all the disks in the array. RAID level 1 is also called mirroring and provides 100%
redundancy in case of a failure.

■ RAID 2
■ RAID 2 records Error Correction Code using Hamming distance for its data, striped on
different disks. Like level 0,
■ each data bit in a word is recorded on a separate disk and ECC codes of the data words are
stored on a different set disks. Due to its complex structure and high cost, RAID 2 is not
commercially available.
RAID 3
■ RAID 3 stripes the data onto multiple disks. The parity bit generated for data word is stored
on a different disk. This technique makes it to overcome single disk failures.

RAID 4
■ In this level, an entire block of data is written onto data disks and then the parity is
generated and stored on a different disk.
■ Note that level 3 uses byte-level striping, whereas level 4 uses block-level striping. Both level
3 and level 4 require at least three disks to implement RAID.
RAID 5
■ RAID 5 writes whole data blocks onto different disks, but the parity bits generated for data
block stripe are distributed among all the data disks rather than storing them on a different
dedicated disk.

RAID 6
■ RAID 6 is an extension of level 5. In this level, two independent parities are generated and
stored in distributed fashion among multiple disks. Two parities provide additional fault
tolerance. This level requires at least four disk drives to implement RAID.
DBMS - File Structure   
■ Relative data and information is stored collectively in file formats.
■ A file is a sequence of records stored in binary format. A disk drive is formatted into several
blocks that can store records. File records are mapped onto those disk blocks.

File Organization
■ File Organization defines how file records are mapped onto disk blocks. We have four types
of File Organization to organize file records.
Heap File Organization
■ When a file is created using Heap File Organization, the Operating System allocates memory area to
that file without any further accounting details.
■ File records can be placed anywhere in that memory area. It is the responsibility of the software to
manage the records. Heap File does not support any ordering, sequencing, or indexing on its own.
Sequential File Organization
■ Every file record contains a data field (attribute) to uniquely identify that record.
■ In sequential file organization, records are placed in the file in some sequential order based on the
unique key field or search key.
■ Practically, it is not possible to store all the records sequentially in physical form.
Hash File Organization
■ Hash File Organization uses Hash function computation on some fields of the records.
■ The output of the hash function determines the location of disk block where the records are to be
placed.
Clustered File Organization
■ Clustered file organization is not considered good for large databases.
■ In this mechanism, related records from one or more relations are kept in the same disk block, that is,
the ordering of records is not based on primary key or search key.
File Operations
■ Operations on database files can be broadly classified into two categories −
– Update Operations
– Retrieval Operations

■ Update operations change the data values by insertion, deletion, or update. Retrieval operations, on the other hand, do not alter the data but retrieve them
after optional conditional filtering. In both types of operations, selection plays a significant role. Other than creation and deletion of a file, there could be
several operations, which can be done on files.
– Open − A file can be opened in one of the two modes, read mode or write mode. In read mode, the operating system does not allow anyone to alter
data. In other words, data is read only. Files opened in read mode can be shared among several entities. Write mode allows data modification. Files
opened in write mode can be read but cannot be shared.
– Locate − Every file has a file pointer, which tells the current position where the data is to be read or written. This pointer can be adjusted
accordingly. Using find (seek) operation, it can be moved forward or backward.
– Read − By default, when files are opened in read mode, the file pointer points to the beginning of the file. There are options where the user can tell
the operating system where to locate the file pointer at the time of opening a file. The very next data to the file pointer is read.
– Write − User can select to open a file in write mode, which enables them to edit its contents. It can be deletion, insertion, or modification. The file
pointer can be located at the time of opening or can be dynamically changed if the operating system allows to do so.
– Close − This is the most important operation from the operating system’s point of view. When a request to close a file is generated, the operating
system
■ removes all the locks (if in shared mode),
■ saves the data (if altered) to the secondary storage media, and
■ releases all the buffers and file handlers associated with the file.

■ The organization of data inside a file plays a major role here. The process to locate the file pointer to a desired record inside a file various based on whether
the records are arranged sequentially or clustered.
DBMS - Indexing
■ We know that data is stored in the form of records. Every record has a key field, which helps it to be
recognized uniquely.
■ Indexing is a data structure technique to efficiently retrieve records from the database files based on
some attributes on which the indexing has been done. Indexing in database systems is similar to what
we see in books.
■ Indexing is defined based on its indexing attributes. Indexing can be of the following types −
– Primary Index − Primary index is defined on an ordered data file. The data file is ordered on
a key field. The key field is generally the primary key of the relation.
– Secondary Index − Secondary index may be generated from a field which is a candidate key and
has a unique value in every record, or a non-key with duplicate values.
– Clustering Index − Clustering index is defined on an ordered data file. The data file is ordered on
a non-key field.
■ Ordered Indexing is of two types −
– Dense Index
– Sparse Index
Dense Index
■ In dense index, there is an index record for every search key value in the database. This
makes searching faster but requires more space to store index records itself. Index records
contain search key value and a pointer to the actual record on the disk.

■ Sparse Index
■ In sparse index, index records are not created for every search key. An index record here contains a
search key and an actual pointer to the data on the disk. To search a record, we first proceed by index
record and reach at the actual location of the data. If the data we are looking for is not where we
directly reach by following the index, then the system starts sequential search until the desired data is
found.
Multilevel Index
■ Index records comprise search-key values and data pointers.
■ Multilevel index is stored on the disk along with the actual database
files. As the size of the database grows, so does the size of the indices.
■ There is an immense need to keep the index records in the main
memory so as to speed up the search operations.
■ If single-level index is used, then a large size index cannot be kept in
memory which leads to multiple disk accesses.
■ Multi-level Index helps in breaking down the index into several
smaller indices in order to make the outermost level so small
that it can be saved in a single disk block, which can easily be
accommodated anywhere in the main memory.
B+ Tree
■ A B+ tree is a balanced binary search tree that follows a multi-level index format.
■ The leaf nodes of a B+ tree denote actual data pointers.
■ B+ tree ensures that all leaf nodes remain at the same height, thus balanced.
Additionally, the leaf nodes are linked using a link list; therefore, a B + tree can
support random access as well as sequential access.
Structure of B+ Tree
■ Every leaf node is at equal distance from the root node. A B + tree is of the
order n where n is fixed for every B+ tree.
Internal nodes −
■ Internal (non-leaf) nodes contain at least ⌈n/2⌉ pointers, except the root node.
■ At most, an internal node can contain n pointers.
Leaf nodes −
■ Leaf nodes contain at least ⌈n/2⌉ record pointers and ⌈n/2⌉ key values.
■ At most, a leaf node can contain n record pointers and n key values.
■ Every leaf node contains one block pointer P to point to next leaf node and forms
a linked list.
B+ Tree Insertion
■ B+ trees are filled from bottom and each entry is done at the leaf node.
■ If a leaf node overflows −
– Split node into two parts.
– Partition at i = ⌊(m+1)/2⌋.
– First i entries are stored in one node.
– Rest of the entries (i+1 onwards) are moved to a new node.
– ith key is duplicated at the parent of the leaf.
■ If a non-leaf node overflows −
– Split node into two parts.
– Partition the node at i = ⌈(m+1)/2⌉.
– Entries up to i are kept in one node.
– Rest of the entries are moved to a new node.
B+ Tree Deletion
• B+ tree entries are deleted at the leaf nodes.
• The target entry is searched and deleted.
– If it is an internal node, delete and replace with the entry from the left
position.
• After deletion, underflow is tested,
– If underflow occurs, distribute the entries from the nodes left to it.
• If distribution is not possible from left, then
– Distribute from the nodes right to it.
• If distribution is not possible from left or from right, then
– Merge the node with left and right to it.
THE RELATIONAL ALGEBRA AND
RELATIONAL CALCULUS
Chapter 6
Introduction

■ Relational database systems are expected to be equipped with a query language

that can assist its users to query the database instances.
■ There are two kinds of query languages
1. Relational algebra and
2. Relational calculus.
Relational Algebra
■ Relational algebra is a procedural query language, which takes instances of relations as input
and yields instances of relations as output.
■ It uses operators to perform queries. An operator can be either unary or binary. They
accept relations as their input and yield relations as their output.
■ Relational algebra is performed recursively on a relation and intermediate results are also
considered relations.
■ The fundamental operations of relational algebra are as follows −
– Select
– Project
– Union
– Set different
– Cartesian product
– Rename
■ We will discuss all these operations in the following sections.
Select Operation (σ)
■ It selects tuples that satisfy the given predicate from a relation.
Notation − σp(r)
– Where σ stands for selection predicate and r stands for relation. p is prepositional logic formula which may
use connectors like and, or,and not. These terms may use relational operators like − =, ≠, ≥, < ,  >,  ≤.
■ For example − σsubject = "database"(Books)
– Output − Selects tuples from books where subject is 'database'.
■ σsubject = "database" and price = "450"(Books)
– Output − Selects tuples from books where subject is 'database' and 'price' is 450.
■ σsubject = "database" and price = "450" or year > "2010"(Books)
– Output − Selects tuples from books where subject is 'database' and 'price' is 450 or those books published
after 2010.
Project Operation (∏)
■ It projects column(s) that satisfy a given predicate.
– Notation − ∏A1, A2, An (r)
– Where A1, A2 , An are attribute names of relation r.
■ Duplicate rows are automatically eliminated, as relation is a set.
■ For example − ∏subject, author (Books)
– Selects and projects columns named as subject and author from the relation Books.
Union Operation (∪)
■ It performs binary union between two given relations and is defined as −
– r ∪ s = { t | t ∈ r or t ∈ s}
■ Notation − r U s
■ Where r and s are either database relations or relation result set (temporary relation).
■ For a union operation to be valid, the following conditions must hold −
– r, and s must have the same number of attributes.
– Attribute domains must be compatible.
– Duplicate tuples are automatically eliminated.
■ ∏ author (Books) U ∏ author (Articles)
■ Output − Projects the names of the authors who have either written a book or an article or both.
Set Difference (−)
■ The result of set difference operation is tuples, which are present in one relation but are not in the
second relation.
■ Notation − r − s
■ Finds all the tuples that are present in r but not in s.
■ ∏ author (Books) − ∏ author (Articles)
■ Output − Provides the name of authors who have written books but not articles.
Cartesian Product (Χ)
■ Combines information of two different relations into one.
– Notation − r Χ s
■ Where r and s are relations and their output will be defined as −
– r Χ s = { q t | q ∈ r and t ∈ s}
– σauthor = 'tutorialspoint'(Books Χ Articles)
■ Output − Yields a relation, which shows all the books and articles written by tutorialspoint.
Rename Operation (ρ)
■ The results of relational algebra are also relations but without any name. The rename operation
allows us to rename the output relation. 'rename' operation is denoted with small Greek
letter rho ρ.
■ Notation − ρ x (E)
■ Where the result of expression E is saved with name of x.
■ Additional operations are −
– Set intersection
– Assignment
– Natural join
Relational Calculus
■ In contrast to Relational Algebra, Relational Calculus is a non-procedural query
language, that is, it tells what to do but never explains how to do it.
■ Relational calculus exists in two forms −
Tuple Relational Calculus (TRC)
■ Filtering variable ranges over tuples
– Notation − {T | Condition}
■ Returns all tuples T that satisfies a condition.
– For example − { T.name |  Author(T) AND T.article = 'database' }
– Output − Returns tuples with 'name' from Author who has written article on
'database'.
■ TRC can be quantified. We can use Existential (∃) and Universal Quantifiers (∀).
– For example − { R| ∃T   ∈ Authors(T.article='database' AND R.name=T.name)}
– Output − The above query will yield the same result as the previous one.
■ Domain Relational Calculus (DRC)
■ In DRC, the filtering variable uses the domain of attributes instead of entire tuple
values (as done in TRC, mentioned above).
■ Notation − { a1, a2, a3, ..., an | P (a1, a2, a3, ... ,an)}
■ Where a1, a2 are attributes and P stands for formulae built by inner attributes.
– For example − {< article, page, subject > |  ∈ TutorialsPoint ∧ subject =
'database'}
– Output − Yields Article, Page, and Subject from the relation TutorialsPoint,
where subject is database.
■ Just like TRC, DRC can also be written using existential and universal quantifiers.
DRC also involves relational operators.
■ The expression power of Tuple Relation Calculus and Domain Relation Calculus is
equivalent to Relational Algebra.
END OF CHAPTER