INTRODUCTION

DATA The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data (plural of "datum") are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which information and then knowledge are derived. Raw data, i.e. unprocessed data, refers to a collection of numbers, characters, images or other outputs from devices that collect information to convert physical quantities into symbols.

Data Base A database is a collection of related information stored in a manner that it is available to many users for different purposes. The content of a database is obtained by combining data from all the different sources in an organization. So that data are available to all users and redundant data can be eliminated or at least minimized. The DBMS helps create an environment in which end user have better access to more and better managed data than they did before the DBMS become the data management standard.

A database can handle business inventory, accounting information in its files to prepare summaries, estimates, and other reports. There can be a database, which stores new paper articles, magazines, books, and comics. There is already a well-defined market for specific information for highly selected group of users on almost all subjects. The database management system is the major software component of a database system. Some commercially available DBMS are INGRES, ORACLE, and Sybase. A database management system, therefore, is a combination of hardware and software that can be used to set up and monitor a database, and can manage the updating and retrieval of database that has been stored in it. Most database management systems have the following facilities/capabilities: Creating of a file, addition to data, deletion of data, modification of data; creation, addition and deletion of entire files. Retrieving data collectively or selectively.

 The data stored can be sorted or indexed at the user's discretion and direction. Various reports can be produced from the system. These may be either standardized report or that may be specifically generated according to specific user definition. Mathematical functions can be performed and the data stored in the database can be manipulated with these functions to perform the desired calculations. To maintain data integrity and database use. To create an environment for Data warehousing and Data mining.

The DBMS interprets and processes users' requests to retrieve information from a database. The following figure shows that a DBMS serves as an interface in several forms. They may be keyed directly from a terminal, or coded as high-level language programs to be submitted for interactive or batch processing. In most cases, a query request will have to penetrate several layers of software in the DBMS and operating system before the physical database can be accessed.

Advantages
Reduction of Redundancies: Centralized control of data by the DBA avoids unnecessary duplication of data and effectively reduces the total amount of data storage required. It also eliminates the extra processing necessary to trace the required data in a large mass of data. Another advantage of avoiding duplication is the elimination of the inconsistencies that tend to be present in redundant data files. Any redundancies that exist in the DBMS are controlled and the system ensures that these multiple copies are consistent. Sharing Data: A database allows the sharing of data under its control by any number of application programs or users. Data Integrity: Centralized control can also ensure that adequate checks are incorporated in the DBMS to provide data integrity. Data integrity means that the data contained in the database is both accurate and consistent. Therefore, data values being entered for storage could be checked to ensure that they fall within a specified range and are of the correct format. For example, the value for the age of an employee may be in the range of 16 and 75. Another integrity check that should be incorporated in the database is to ensure that if there is a reference to certain object, that object must exist. In the case of an automatic teller machine, for example, a user is not allowed to transfer funds from a nonexistent saving account to a checking account. Data Security: Data is of vital importance to an organization and may be confidential. Unauthorized persons must not access such confidential data. The DBA who has the ultimate responsibility for the

data in the DBMS can ensure that proper access procedures are followed, including proper authentication schemas for access to the DBMS and additional checks before permitting access to sensitive data. Different levels of security could be implemented for various types of data and operations. Conflict Resolution: DBA chooses the best file structure and access method to get optimal Performance for the response-critical applications, while permitting less critical applications to continue to use die database, albeit with a relatively slower response. Data Independence: Data independence is usually considered from two points of view: physical data independence and logical data independence. Physical data independence allows changes in the physical storage devices or organization of the files to be made without requiring changes in the conceptual view or any of the external views and hence in the application programs using the database.

Disadvantages
A significant disadvantage of the DBMS system is cost. In addition to the cost of purchasing or developing the software, the hardware has to be upgraded to allow for the extensive programs and the workspaces required for their execution and storage. The processing overhead introduced by the DBMS to implement security, integrity, and sharing of the data causes a degradation of the response and through-put times. An additional cost is that of migration from a traditionally separate application environment to an integrated one. While centralization reduces duplication, the lack of duplication requires that the database be adequately backed up so that in the case of failure the data can be recovered. Backup and recovery operations are fairly complex in a DBMS environment, and this is exacerbated in a concurrent multiuser database system. In further a database system requires a certain amount of controlled redundancies and duplication to enable access to related data items. Centralization also means that the data is accessible from a single source namely the database. This increases the potential severity of security breaches and disruption of the operation of the organization because of downtimes and failures. The replacement of a monolithic centralized database by a federation of independent and cooperating distributed databases resolves some of the problems resulting from failures and downtimes.

DBMS Architecture

Database Management Systems are very complex, sophisticated software applications that provide reliable management of large amounts of data. To better understand general database concepts and the structure and capabilities of a DBMS, it is useful to examine the architecture of a typical database management system. There are two different ways to look at the architecture of a DBMS: the logical DBMS architecture and the physical DBMS architecture. The logical architecture deals with the way data is stored and presented to users, while the physical architecture is concerned with the software components that make up a DBMS.

Logical DBMS Architecture

The logical architecture describes how data in the database is perceived by users. It is not concerned with how the data is handled and processed by the DBMS, but only with how it looks. Users are shielded from the way data is stored on the underlying file system, and can manipulate the data without worrying about where it is located or how it is actually stored. This results in the database having different levels of abstraction. The majority of commercial Database Management Systems available today are based on the ANSI/SPARC generalized DBMS architecture, as proposed by the ANSI/SPARC Study Group on Data Base Management Systems. The ANSI/SPARC architecture divides the system into three levels of abstraction: the internal or physical level, the conceptual level, and the external or view level. The diagram below shows the logical architecture for a typical DBMS.

Figure 3-1 Logical DBMS Architecture The Internal or Physical Level The collection of files permanently stored on secondary storage devices is known as the physical database. The physical or internal level is the one closest to physical storage, and it provides a low-level description of the physical database, and an interface between the operating system's file system and the record structures used in higher levels of abstraction. It is at this level that record types and methods of storage are defined, as well as how stored fields are represented, what physical sequence the stored records are in, and what other physical structures exist. The Conceptual Level The conceptual level presents a logical view of the entire database as a unified whole, which allows you to bring all the data in the database together and see it in a consistent manner. The first stage in the design of a database is to define the conceptual view, and a DBMS provides a data definition language for this purpose. It is the conceptual level that allows a DBMS to provide data independence. The data definition language used to create the conceptual level must not specify any physical storage considerations that should be handled by the physical level. It should not provide any storage or access details, but should define the information content only. The External or View Level

The external or view level provides a window on the conceptual view which allows the user to see only the data of interest to them. The user can be either an application program or an end user. Any number of external schema can be defined and they can overlap each other. The System Administrator and the Database Administrator are special cases. Because they have responsibilities for the design and maintenance for the design and maintenance of the database, they at times need to be able to see the entire database. The external and the conceptual view are functionally equivalent for these two users. Mappings Between Levels Obviously, the three levels of abstraction in the database do not exist independently of each other. There must be some correspondence, or mapping, between the levels. There are actually two mappings: the conceptual/internal mapping and the external/conceptual mapping. The conceptual/internal mapping lies between the conceptual and internal levels, and defines the correspondence between the records and the fields of the conceptual view and the files and data structures of the internal view. If the structure of the stored database is changed, then the conceptual/ internal mapping must also be changed accordingly so that the view from the conceptual level remains constant. It is this mapping that provides physical data independence for the database. The external/conceptual view lies between the external and conceptual levels, and defines the correspondence between a particular external view and the conceptual view. Although these two levels are similar, some elements found in a particular external view may be different from the conceptual view. For example, several fields can be combined into a single (virtual) field, which can also have different names from the original fields. If the structure of the database at the conceptual level is changed, then the external/conceptual mapping must change accordingly so the view from the external level remains constant. It is this mapping that provides logical data independence for the database. It is also possible to have another mapping, where one external view is expressed in terms of other external views (this could be called an external/external mapping). This is useful if several external views are closely related to one another, as it allows you to avoid mapping each of the similar external views directly to the conceptual level.

3.2 Physical DBMS Architecture

The physical architecture describes the software components used to enter and process data, and how these software components are related and interconnected. Although it is not possible to generalize the component structure of a DBMS, it is possible to identify a number of key functions which are common

to most database management systems. The components that normally implement these functions are shown in the diagram on the following page, which depicts the physical architecture for a typical DBMS. At its most basic level the physical DBMS architecture can be broken down into two parts: the back end and the front end. The back end is responsible for managing the physical database and providing the necessary support and mappings for the internal, conceptual, and external levels described earlier. Other benefits of a DBMS, such as security, integrity, and access control, are also the responsibility of the back end. The front end is really just any application that runs on top of the DBMS. These may be applications provided by the DBMS vendor, the user, or a third party. The user interacts with the front end, and may not even be aware that the back end exists.

Figure 3-2 Physical DBMS Architecture Both the back end and front end can be further broken down into the software components that are common to most types of DBMS. These components are examined in detail in the following sections. Applications and Utilities

Applications and utilities are the main interface to the DBMS for most users. There are three main sources of applications and utilities for a DBMS: the vendor, the user, and third parties. Vendor applications and utilities are provided for working with or maintaining the database, and usually allow users to create and manipulate a database without the need to write custom applications. However, these are usually general-purpose applications and are not the best tools to use for doing specific, repetitive tasks. User applications are generally custom-made application programs written for a specific purpose using a conventional programming language. This programming language is coupled to the DBMS query language through the application program interface (API). This allows the user to utilize the power of the DBMS query language with the flexibility of a custom application. Third party applications may be similar to those provided by the vendor, but with enhancements, or they may fill a perceived need that the vendor hasn't created an application for. They can also be similar to user applications, being written for a specific purpose they think a large majority of users will need. The most common applications and utilities used with a database can be divided into several welldefined categories. These are: Command Line Interfaces-these are character-based, interactive interfaces that let you use the full power and functionality of the DBMS query language directly. They allow you to manipulate the database and perform ad-hoc queries and see the results immediately. They are often the only method of exploiting the full power of the database without creating programs using a conventional programming language. Graphical User Interface (GUI) tools-these are graphical, interactive interfaces that hide the complexity of the DBMS and query language behind an intuitive, easy to understand, and convenient interface. This allows casual users the ability to access the database without having to learn the query language, and it allows advanced users to quickly manage and manipulate the database without the trouble of entering formal commands using the query language. However, graphical interfaces usually do not provide the same level of functionality as a command line interface because it is not always possible to implement all commands or options using a graphical interface. Backup/Restore Utilities-these are designed to minimize the effects of a database failure and ensure a database is restored to a consistent state if a failure does occur. Manual backup/restore utilities require the user to initiate the backup, while automatic utilities will back up the database at regular intervals without any intervention from the user. Proper use of a backup/restore utility allows a DBMS to recover from a system failure correctly and reliably. Load/Unload Utilities-these allow the user to unload a database or parts of a database and reload the data on the same machine, or on another machine in a different location. This can be useful in several

situations, such as for creating backup copies of a database at a specific point in time, or for loading data into a new version of the database or into a completely different database. These load/unload utilities may also be used for rearranging the data in the database to improve performance, such as clustering data together in a particular way or reclaiming space occupied by data that has become obsolete. Reporting/Analysis Utilities-these are used to analyze and report on the data contained in the database. This may include analyzing trends in data, computing values from data, or displaying data that meets some specified criteria, and then displaying or printing a report containing this information.

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FACILITIES

Two main types of facilities are supported by the DBMS: - The data definition facility or data definition language (DDL). - The data manipulation facility or data manipulation language (DML). - The data query facility or data query language [DQL]. - The data control facility or data control language [DCL]. - The transaction control facility or data control language [TCL].

Data Definition Language Data Definition Language is a set of SQL commands used to create, modify and delete database structures (not data). These commands wouldn't normally be used by a general user, who should be accessing the database via an application. They are normally used by the DBA (to a limited extent), a database designer or application developer. These statements are immediate; they are not susceptible to ROLLBACK commands. You should also note that if you have executed several DML updates then issuing any DDL command will COMMIT all the updates as every DDL command implicitly issues a COMMIT command to the database. Anybody using DDL must have the CREATE object privilege and a Tablespace area in which to create objects. Data Manipulation Language DML is a language that enables users to access or manipulate as organized by the appropriate data model. Data manipulation involves retrieval of data from the database, insertion of new data into the database, and deletion or modification of existing data. The first of these data manipulation operations is called a query. A query is a statement in the DML that requests the retrieval of data from the database. The DML provides commands to select and retrieve data from the database. Commands are also provided to insert, update, and delete records. There are basically two types of DML: Procedural: which requires a user to specify what data is needed and how to get it Nonprocedural: which requires a user to specify what data is needed without specifying how to get it. DCL

DCL is abbreviation of Data Control Language. It is used to create roles, permissions, and referential integrity as well it is used to control access to database by securing it. Examples: GRANT, REVOKE statements TCL Transaction Control (TCL) statements are used to manage the changes made by DML statements. It allows statements to be grouped together into logical transactions. TCL is abbreviation of Transactional Control Language. It is used to manage different transactions occurring within a database. Examples: COMMIT, ROLLBACK statements