BCS THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE FOR IT

BCS HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

BCS Level 6 Professional Graduate Diploma in IT
ADVANCED DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Thursday 4th April 2013 Afternoon
Answer any THREE questions out of FIVE. All questions carry equal marks
Time: THREE hours
Answer any Section A questions you attempt in Answer Book A
Answer any Section B questions you attempt in Answer Book B
The marks given in brackets are indicative of the weight given to each part of the question.
Calculators are NOT allowed in this examination.
Section A
Answer Section A questions in Answer Book A
A1.

(a) In your own words, define what is meant by the term database transaction,
explain what the ACID properties are and how they affect the behaviour of database
transactions. You should support your discussion with suitable examples and/or
diagrams (hint: you could discuss isolation levels too).
(8 Marks)
(b) Using your own examples and/or suitable diagrams, discuss the function of
COMMIT, ROLLBACK and SAVEPOINTS in transaction processing before
proceeding to describe a situation where such concepts alone would be inadequate
to ensure that data integrity was guaranteed and use of the two-phase commit
protocol was needed. Your response should give a detailed explanation of this
protocol (hint: focus on distributed databases).
(9 Marks)
(c) Briefly describe the various locking options available to a DBMS as part of the
concurrency control function, paying particular attention to the granularity of the
locking, the nature of the locks and the allowable operations and what happens when
deadlock occurs. You should supply any examples or diagrams as you deem suitable
(hint: think about the performance issues of different lock types too).
(8 Marks)

Turn over]

A2.

(a) Describe the defining characteristics of a data warehouse and how it differs in
content and purpose from an OLTP database
(5 Marks)
(b) Explain, using examples where appropriate, the term ETL with respect to data
warehouses, taking care to highlight common problems or issues in each stage.
(5 Marks)
(c) For each of the following items, explain what the term means, the underlying
concepts involved, any associated benefits or limitations, typical applications and
features along with any additional technical or implementation points you think
appropriate to mention. You should support your discussion with suitable diagrams
and/or examples.
x
x
x

OLAP (hint: think different implementations of OLAP, SQL and OLAP,

aggregation etc.)
Multi-Dimensional Data (hint: think what each dimension could represent, roll-up,
pivoting)
Data Mining (hint: patterns and prediction, techniques to identify these, data
preparation, tools)

Each term is equally weighted.

A3.

(15 Marks)

(a) List the main types of threat that could affect a database system and describe the
controls that you would use to counteract them.
(5 marks)
(b) A password profile is a tool used to enforce database security. For example, it
can be used to check the complexity of a password. List three other mechanisms that
can be achieved through this tool.
(3 marks)
(c) In the context of database security, briefly explain the difference between system
privileges and object privileges and give an example of each.
(6 marks)
(d) Describe what happens during the parsing of a query.

(2 marks)

(e) Consider the following table:

Customers (custNbr, name, city).
Suppose the table is stored in 20 blocks in a heap (un-ordered) file on disk.
Also suppose that the table has a B-Tree index on custNbr. The index has 3 levels
and 10 leaf nodes (blocks).
For each of the following queries, explain how the query will be processed and how
many blocks will be read:
(i) SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE custNbr = C05;
(3 marks)
(ii) SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Customers;
(3 marks)
(iii) SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE city = London;
(3 marks)

Section B
Answer Section B questions in Answer Book B
B4.

Read through the following discourse then answer the questions that follow
A company called LBC transport many chemical PRODUCTS from one location to
another on behalf of registered CUSTOMERS. Each transport operation is called a
JOB, which involves picking up one or both LOADS of the same product from a
customers requested start location and delivers it to a customers requested
destination. A unique number is given for each JOB and for each LOAD when they
are created. A Load is transported using a particular TRANSPORT UNIT, which
consists of a lorry, a driver, a container (for carrying the product) and occasionally
specialist loading equipment (such as Jacks and Pumps). A container is fixed to a
trailer so it needs to be coupled to a lorry at the start of a Job.
LBC has its HQ located in London but all its transport operations are run from 5
regional DEPOTS. LBC HQ receive Jobs and allocate them to depots to process.
Depots are usually located near to pick up points such as chemical plants. Depots
hold, manage and maintain their own transport units which are permanently allocated
to them to service Jobs. A container, and sometimes associated loading equipment,
may on occasions be left at destinations or pick-ups after a Job is finished. But
normally transport units are held at the base Depot they belong.
Job Tracking
GPS Location tracking equipment is installed in lorries that captures the current
geographical location and relays this to a depot. The actual location is compared with
the expected location according to a delivery schedule. Some products are unstable
therefore the speed and timing of pick-up and delivery is very important. Furthermore
the chemical product may be required by a manufacturer at a particular stage of a
production line/process.
Job tracking also must aid decision making for drivers and operators for instance
when the planning goes wrong. This means that alternative resources have to be
provided if there are delays, breakdown, cancellations or loading problems. So
recording the current status of all jobs and resources is essential for smooth
operation.
(a) Produce a labelled diagram that shows the system components necessary to
support the above requirements including the distribution of data sources and
databases, the connectivity of physical devices/hardware, the software support.
(8 marks)

Turn Over]

(b) A Distributed database architecture is required for the above scenario. This may
involve one or both of the following established technologies to manage the
distribution of data:Fragmentation and Replication.
i)

ii)

For each of these technologies outline the techniques used to manage

interoperability and synchronisation of physically distributed data.
(9 marks)
Comment on the suitability and trade-offs needed for each of these
technologies given the requirements described above.
(8 marks)

B5.
(a) Describe the reasons for the emergence and increasing use of XML databases
and discuss why they may be used as an alternative to a Relational database.
(6 marks)
(b) Support for XML databases are met by either native (or pure) XML databases
(NXD) or relational databases with integrated XML support (RIXD).
i)

What are the characteristics of :a NXD?

a RIXD?
(8 marks)

ii)

What factors would you consider when choosing between a NXD

versus a RIXD?
(5 marks)

(c) Briefly summarise the XML or XML/internet supported functionality present in a

particular DBMS product you are familiar such as ORACLE,DB2,SQLSERVER.
(6 marks)