Data Access

• Physical blocks are those blocks residing on the

disk.
• Buffer blocks are the blocks residing temporarily in
main memory.
• Block movements between disk and main memory
are initiated through the following two operations:
• input(B) transfers the physical block B to main memory.
• output(B) transfers the buffer block B to the disk, and
replaces the appropriate physical block there.
• We assume, for simplicity, that each data item fits
in, and is stored inside, a single block.
Example of Data Access
buffer
Buffer Block A input(A)
X A
Buffer Block B Y B
output(B)
read(X)
write(Y)

x2
x1
y1

work area work area

of T1 of T2

memory disk
Data Access (Cont.)
• Each transaction T has its private work-area in which local
i
copies of all data items accessed and updated by it are kept.
• Ti's local copy of a data item X is called xi.
• Transferring data items between system buffer blocks and
its private work-area done by:
• read(X) assigns the value of data item X to the local variable xi.
• write(X) assigns the value of local variable xi to data item {X} in
the buffer block.
• Note: output(BX) need not immediately follow write(X). System
can perform the output operation when it deems fit.
• Transactions
• Must perform read(X) before accessing X for the first time
(subsequent reads can be from local copy)
• write(X) can be executed at any time before the transaction
commits
Recovery and Atomicity
• To ensure atomicity despite failures, we first output information
describing the modifications to stable storage without modifying the
database itself.
• We study log-based recovery mechanisms in detail
• We first present key concepts
• And then present the actual recovery algorithm
Log-Based Recovery
• A log is kept on stable storage.
• The log is a sequence of log records, and maintains a record of
update activities on the database.
• When transaction Ti starts, it registers itself by writing a
<Ti start>log record
• Before Ti executes write(X), a log record
<Ti, X, V1, V2>
is written, where V1 is the value of X before the write (the old
value), and V2 is the value to be written to X (the new value).
• When Ti finishes it last statement, the log record <Ti commit>
is written.
• Two approaches using logs
• Deferred database modification
• Immediate database modification
Immediate Database Modification
• The immediate-modification scheme allows updates of an uncommitted transaction to
be made to the buffer, or the disk itself, before the transaction commits
• Update log record must be written before database item is written
• We assume that the log record is output directly to stable storage
• (Will see later that how to postpone log record output to some extent)
• Output of updated blocks to stable storage can take place at any time before or after
transaction commit
• Order in which blocks are output can be different from the order in which they are
written.
• The deferred-modification scheme performs updates to buffer/disk only at the time of
transaction commit
• Simplifies some aspects of recovery
• But has overhead of storing local copy
Transaction Commit
• A transaction is said to have committed when its commit log record is
output to stable storage
• all previous log records of the transaction must have been output already
• Writes performed by a transaction may still be in the buffer when the
transaction commits, and may be output later
 Immediate Database Modification Example

Log Write Output

<T0 start>
<T0, A, 1000, 950>
<To, B, 2000, 2050
A = 950
B = 2050
<T0 commit>
<T1 start> BC output before T1
<T1, C, 700, 600> commits
C = 600
BB , BC
<T1 commit> BA output after T0
BA
commits
• Note: BX denotes block containing X.
Checkpoints
• Redoing/undoing all transactions recorded in the log can be very slow
1. processing the entire log is time-consuming if the system has run for a long time
2. we might unnecessarily redo transactions which have already output their
updates to the database.
• Streamline recovery procedure by periodically performing
checkpointing
1. Output all log records currently residing in main memory onto stable storage.
2. Output all modified buffer blocks to the disk.
3. Write a log record < checkpoint L> onto stable storage where L is a list of all
transactions active at the time of checkpoint.
• All updates are stopped while doing checkpointing
Checkpoints (Cont.)
• During recovery we need to consider only the most recent transaction T i that
started before the checkpoint, and transactions that started after Ti.
1. Scan backwards from end of log to find the most recent <checkpoint L> record
• Only transactions that are in L or started after the checkpoint need to be redone or
undone
• Transactions that committed or aborted before the checkpoint already have all their
updates output to stable storage.
• Some earlier part of the log may be needed for undo operations
1. Continue scanning backwards till a record <Ti start> is found for every transaction Ti in
L.
• Parts of log prior to earliest <Ti start> record above are not needed for recovery, and
can be erased whenever desired.
Example of Checkpoints
Tc Tf
T1
T2
T3
T4

checkpoint system failure

• T1 can be ignored (updates already output to disk due to

checkpoint)
• T2 and T3 redone.
• T4 undone
Recovery Algorithm
 So far: we covered key concepts
 Now: we present the components of the basic recovery
algorithm
 Later: we present extensions to allow more concurrency
Recovery Algorithm
• Logging (during normal operation):
• <Ti start> at transaction start
• <Ti, Xj, V1, V2> for each update, and
• <Ti commit> at transaction end
• Transaction rollback (during normal operation)
• Let Ti be the transaction to be rolled back
• Scan log backwards from the end, and for each log
record of Ti of the form <Ti, Xj, V1, V2>
• perform the undo by writing V1 to Xj,
• write a log record <Ti , Xj, V1>
• such log records are called compensation log records
• Once the record <Ti start> is found stop the scan and
write the log record <Ti abort>
Recovery Algorithm (Cont.)
• Recovery from failure: Two phases
• Redo phase: replay updates of all transactions, whether they committed,
aborted, or are incomplete
• Undo phase: undo all incomplete transactions
• Redo phase:
1. Find last <checkpoint L> record, and set redo-list to L.
2. Scan forward from above <checkpoint L> record
1. Whenever a record <Ti, Xj, V1, V2> or <Ti, Xj, V2> is found, redo it by writing V2 to Xj
2. Whenever a log record <Ti start> is found, add Ti to redo-list
3. Whenever a log record <Ti commit> or <Ti abort> is found, remove Ti from redo-list
Recovery Algorithm (Cont.)
• Undo phase:
1. Scan log backwards from end
1. Whenever a log record <Ti, Xj, V1, V2> is found where Ti is in undo-list perform same actions as
for transaction rollback:
1. perform undo by writing V1 to Xj.
2. write a log record <Ti , Xj, V1>
2. Whenever a log record <Ti start> is found where Ti is in undo-list,
1. Write a log record <Ti abort>
2. Remove Ti from undo-list
3. Stop when undo-list is empty
 i.e. <Ti start> has been found for every transaction in undo-list

After undo phase completes, normal transaction processing can commence

Example of Recovery
Log Record Buffering
• Log record buffering: log records are buffered in
main memory, instead of of being output directly to
stable storage.
• Log records are output to stable storage when a block of
log records in the buffer is full, or a log force operation is
executed.
• Log force is performed to commit a transaction by
forcing all its log records (including the commit
record) to stable storage.
• Several log records can thus be output using a single
output operation, reducing the I/O cost.
Log Record Buffering (Cont.)
• The rules below must be followed if log records are buffered:
• Log records are output to stable storage in the order in which they are
created.
• Transaction Ti enters the commit state only when the log record
<Ti commit> has been output to stable storage.
• Before a block of data in main memory is output to the database, all log
records pertaining to data in that block must have been output to stable
storage.
• This rule is called the write-ahead logging or WAL rule
• Strictly speaking WAL only requires undo information to be output