Unit-4: Database Management System
Contents: Introduction to Database Management System, DBMS Models, SQL, Database Design and Data Security, Data Warehouse, Data Mining, Database Administrator
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What is Database?
A database is a collection of related data and data is a collection of facts and figures that can be processed to produce information.
Mostly data represents recordable facts. Data aids in producing information, which is based on facts. For example, if we have data about marks obtained by all students, we can then conclude about toppers and average marks.
A database management system stores data in such a way that it becomes easier to retrieve, manipulate, and produce information.
Characteristics of DBMS
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.
Isolation of data and application: A database system is entirely different than its data. A database is an active entity, whereas data is said to be passive, on which the database works and organizes. DBMS also stores metadata, which is data about data, to ease its own process.
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
ACID Properties:
DBMS follows the concepts of Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability (normally shortened as ACID). These concepts are applied on transactions, which manipulate data in a database. ACID properties help the database stay healthy in multi-transactional environments and in case of failure.
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:
Features like multiple views offer security to some extent where users are unable to access data of other users and departments. DBMS offers methods to impose constraints while entering data into the database and retrieving the same at a later stage. DBMS offers many different levels of security features, which enables multiple users to have different views with different features.
Database Models
Data models define how the logical structure of a database is modelled. Data Models are fundamental entities to introduce abstraction in a DBMS. Data models define how data is connected to each other and how they are processed and stored inside the system.
Two types
Entity-Relationship Model
Entity-Relationship (ER) Model is based on the notion of real-world entities and relationships among them. While formulating real-world scenario into the database model, the ER Model creates entity set, relationship set, general attributes, and constraints.
ER Model is best used for the conceptual design of a database.
ER Model is based on:
• Entities and their attributes.
• An entity in an ER Model is a real-world entity having properties called attributes. Every attribute is defined by its set of values called domain.
For example, in a school database, a student is considered as an entity. Student has various attributes like name, age, class, etc.
Relationships among entities
The logical association among entities is called relationship. Relationships are mapped with entities in various ways. Mapping cardinalities define the number of associations between two entities.
Relational Model
The most popular data model in DBMS is the Relational Model. It is a more scientific model than others. This model is based on first-order predicate logic and defines a table as an n-ary relation.
The main highlights of this model are:
1. Data is stored in tables called relations.
2. Relations can be normalized.
3. In normalized relations, values saved are atomic values.
4. Each row in a relation contains a unique value
5. Each column in a relation contains values from the same domain.
SQL (Structured Query Language)
What is SQL?
SQL is Structured Query Language, which is a computer language for storing, manipulating and retrieving data stored in relational database. SQL is the standard language for Relation Database System. All relational database management systems like MySQL, MS Access, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, postgres and SQL Server use SQL as standard database language.
Why SQL?
Allows users to access data in relational database management systems.
Allows users to describe the data.
Allows users to define the data in database and manipulate that data.
Allows embedding within other languages using SQL modules, libraries & pre-compilers.
Allows users to create and drop databases and tables
SQL Process
When you are executing an SQL command for any RDBMS, the system determines the best way to carry out your request and SQL engine figures out how to interpret the task.
There are various components included in the process. These components are Query Dispatcher, Optimization Engines, Classic Query Engine and SQL Query Engine, etc. Classic query engine handles all non-SQL queries, but SQL query engine won’t handle logical files
SQL Commands
The standard SQL commands to interact with relational databases are CREATE, SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE and DROP. These commands can be classified into groups based on their nature.
DDL Data Definition Language:
CREATE Creates a new table, a view of a table, or another object in the database
ALTER Modifies an existing database object, such as a table.
DROP Deletes an entire table, a view of a table or other object in the database.
DML Data Manipulation Language:
INSERT Creates a record
UPDATE Modifies records
DELETE Deletes records
DCL Data Control Language:
GRANT Gives a privilege to the user
REVOKE Takes back privileges granted from user
DQL Data Query Language:
SELECT Retrieves certain records from one or more tables