Unit 4

Transaction
o The transaction is a set of logically related operation. It contains a group of tasks.
o A transaction is an action or series of actions. It is performed by a single user to
perform operations for accessing the contents of the database.

Example: Suppose an employee of bank transfers Rs 800 from X's account to Y's
account. This small transaction contains several low-level tasks:

X's Account

7. Open_Account(X)
8. Old_Balance = X.balance
9. New_Balance = Old_Balance - 800
10. X.balance = New_Balance
11. Close_Account(X)

Y's Account

3. Open_Account(Y)
4. Old_Balance = Y.balance
5. New_Balance = Old_Balance + 800
6. Y.balance = New_Balance
7. Close_Account(Y)
 Operations of Transaction:
Following are the main operations of transaction:

Read(X): Read operation is used to read the value of X from the database and stores it
in a buffer in main memory.

Write(X): Write operation is used to write the value back to the database from the
buffer.

Let's take an example to debit transaction from an account which consists of

following operations:

3. 1. R(X);
4. 2. X=X-500;
5. 3. W(X);

Let's assume the value of X before starting of the transaction is 4000.

o The first operation reads X's value from database and stores it in a buffer.
o The second operation will decrease the value of X by 500. So buffer will contain
3500.
o The third operation will write the buffer's value to the database. So X's final
value will be 3500.

But it may be possible that because of the failure of hardware, software or power, etc.
that transaction may fail before finished all the operations in the set.

For example: If in the above transaction, the debit transaction fails after executing
operation 2 then X's value will remain 4000 in the database which is not acceptable
by the bank.

To solve this problem, we have two important operations:

Commit: It is used to save the work done permanently.

Rollback: It is used to undo the work done.

Transaction property
The transaction has the four properties. These are used to maintain consistency in
a database, before and after the transaction.

Property of Transaction
 2. Atomicity
3. Consistency
4. Isolation
5. Durability

States of Transaction
In a database, the transaction can be in one of the following states -

Active state
o The active state is the first state of every transaction. In this state, the
transaction is being executed.
o For example: Insertion or deletion or updating a record is done here. But all
the records are still not saved to the database.

Partially committed
o In the partially committed state, a transaction executes its final operation, but
the data is still not saved to the database.
o In the total mark calculation example, a final display of the total marks step is
executed in this state.
Committed
A transaction is said to be in a committed state if it executes all its operations
successfully. In this state, all the effects are now permanently saved on the
database system.

Failed state
o If any of the checks made by the database recovery system fails, then
the transaction is said to be in the failed state.
o In the example of total mark calculation, if the database is not able to fire a
query to fetch the marks, then the transaction will fail to execute.

Aborted
o If any of the checks fail and the transaction has reached a failed state then the
database recovery system will make sure that the database is in its previous
consistent state. If not then it will abort or roll back the transaction to bring
the database into a consistent state.
o If the transaction fails in the middle of the transaction then before executing the
transaction, all the executed transactions are rolled back to its consistent state.
o After aborting the transaction, the database recovery module will select one of
the two operations:
1. Re-start the transaction
2. Kill the transaction
Atomicity
o It states that all operations of the transaction take place at once if not, the
transaction is aborted.
o There is no midway, i.e., the transaction cannot occur partially. Each transaction is
treated as one unit and either run to completion or is not executed at all.

Atomicity involves the following two operations:

Abort: If a transaction aborts then all the changes made are not visible.

Commit: If a transaction commits then all the changes made are visible.

Example: Let's assume that following transaction T consisting of T1 and T2. A consists of
Rs 600 and B consists of Rs 300. Transfer Rs 100 from account A to account B.
 T1 T2

Read(A) Read(B)
A:= A-100 Y:= Y+100
Write(A) Write(B)

After completion of the transaction, A consists of Rs 500 and B consists of Rs 400.

If the transaction T fails after the completion of transaction T1 but before completion of
transaction T2, then the amount will be deducted from A but not added to B. This
shows the inconsistent database state. In order to ensure correctness of database
state, the transaction must be executed in entirety.

Consistency
o The integrity constraints are maintained so that the database is consistent before
and after the transaction.
o The execution of a transaction will leave a database in either its prior stable
state or a new stable state.
o The consistent property of database states that every transaction sees a
consistent database instance.
o The transaction is used to transform the database from one consistent state to
another consistent state.

For example: The total amount must be maintained before or after the transaction.

2. Total before T occurs = 600+300=900

3. Total after T occurs= 500+400=900

Therefore, the database is consistent. In the case when T1 is completed but T2

fails, then inconsistency will occur.

Isolation
o It shows that the data which is used at the time of execution of a transaction
cannot be used by the second transaction until the first one is completed.
o In isolation, if the transaction T1 is being executed and using the data item X,
then that data item can't be accessed by any other transaction T2 until the
transaction T1 ends.
o The concurrency control subsystem of the DBMS enforced the isolation property.

Durability
 o The durability property is used to indicate the performance of the database's
consistent state. It states that the transaction made the permanent changes.
o They cannot be lost by the erroneous operation of a faulty transaction or by the
system failure. When a transaction is completed, then the database reaches a
state known as the consistent state. That consistent state cannot be lost, even in
the event of a system's failure.
o The recovery subsystem of the DBMS has the responsibility of Durability property.

States of Transaction
In a database, the transaction can be in one of the following states -

Active state
o The active state is the first state of every transaction. In this state, the
transaction is being executed.
o For example: Insertion or deletion or updating a record is done here. But all
the records are still not saved to the database.

Partially committed
o In the partially committed state, a transaction executes its final operation,
but the data is still not saved to the database.
o In the total mark calculation example, a final display of the total marks step is
executed in this state.

Committed
A transaction is said to be in a committed state if it executes all its operations
successfully. In this state, all the effects are now permanently saved on the
database system.

Failed state
o If any of the checks made by the database recovery system fails, then
the transaction is said to be in the failed state.
o In the example of total mark calculation, if the database is not able to fire a
query to fetch the marks, then the transaction will fail to execute.

Aborted
o If any of the checks fail and the transaction has reached a failed state then the
database recovery system will make sure that the database is in its previous
consistent state. If not then it will abort or roll back the transaction to bring
the database into a consistent state.
o If the transaction fails in the middle of the transaction then before executing the
transaction, all the executed transactions are rolled back to its consistent state.
o After aborting the transaction, the database recovery module will select one of
the two operations:
1. Re-start the transaction
2. Kill the transaction

Schedule
A series of operation from one transaction to another transaction is known as schedule.
It is used to preserve the order of the operation in each of the individual transaction.
1. Serial Schedule
The serial schedule is a type of schedule where one transaction is executed completely
before starting another transaction. In the serial schedule, when the first transaction
completes its cycle, then the next transaction is executed.

For example: Suppose there are two transactions T1 and T2 which have some
operations. If it has no interleaving of operations, then there are the following
two possible outcomes:

1. Execute all the operations of T1 which was followed by all the operations of T2.
2. Execute all the operations of T1 which was followed by all the operations of T2.

o In the given (a) figure, Schedule A shows the serial schedule where T1 followed
by T2.
o In the given (b) figure, Schedule B shows the serial schedule where T2 followed
by T1.

2. Non-serial Schedule
o If interleaving of operations is allowed, then there will be non-serial schedule.
o It contains many possible orders in which the system can execute the individual
operations of the transactions.
o In the given figure (c) and (d), Schedule C and Schedule D are the non-
serial schedules. It has interleaving of operations.

3. Serializable schedule
o The serializability of schedules is used to find non-serial schedules that allow the
transaction to execute concurrently without interfering with one another.
o It identifies which schedules are correct when executions of the transaction
have interleaving of their operations.
o A non-serial schedule will be serializable if its result is equal to the result of
its transactions executed serially.
Here,

Schedule A and Schedule B are serial schedule.

Schedule C and Schedule D are Non-serial schedule.

View Serializability
o A schedule will view serializable if it is view equivalent to a serial schedule.
o If a schedule is conflict serializable, then it will be view serializable.
o The view serializable which does not conflict serializable contains blind writes.

View Equivalent
Two schedules S1 and S2 are said to be view equivalent if they satisfy the
following conditions:

1. Initial Read
An initial read of both schedules must be the same. Suppose two schedule S1 and S2. In
schedule S1, if a transaction T1 is reading the data item A, then in S2, transaction T1
should also read A.

Above two schedules are view equivalent because Initial read operation in S1 is done
by T1 and in S2 it is also done by T1.

2. Updated Read
In schedule S1, if Ti is reading A which is updated by Tj then in S2 also, Ti should read
A which is updated by Tj.
Above two schedules are not view equal because, in S1, T3 is reading A updated by T2
and in S2, T3 is reading A updated by T1.

3. Final Write
A final write must be the same between both the schedules. In schedule S1, if a
transaction T1 updates A at last then in S2, final writes operations should also be
done by T1.

Above two schedules is view equal because Final write operation in S1 is done by T3
and in S2, the final write operation is also done by T3.

Example:
 Schedule S

With 3 transactions, the total number of possible schedule

1. =3!=6
2. S1 = <T1 T2 T3>
3. S2 = <T1 T3 T2>
4. S3 = <T2 T3 T1>
5. S4 = <T2 T1 T3>
6. S5 = <T3 T1 T2>
7. S6 = <T3 T2 T1>

Taking first schedule S1:

Schedule S1

Step 1: final updation on data items

In both schedules S and S1, there is no read except the initial read that's why we don't
need to check that condition.

Step 2: Initial Read

The initial read operation in S is done by T1 and in S1, it is also done by T1.

Step 3: Final Write

The final write operation in S is done by T3 and in S1, it is also done by T3. So, S and
S1 are view Equivalent.

The first schedule S1 satisfies all three conditions, so we don't need to check
another schedule.

Hence, view equivalent serial schedule is:

1. T1 → T2 → T3
Failure Classification
To find that where the problem has occurred, we generalize a failure into the
following categories:

1. Transaction failure
2. System crash
3. Disk failure

1. Transaction failure
The transaction failure occurs when it fails to execute or when it reaches a
point from where it can't go any further. If a few transaction or process is hurt,
then this is called as transaction failure.

Reasons for a transaction failure could be -

1. Logical errors: If a transaction cannot complete due to some code error

or an internal error condition, then the logical error occurs.
2. Syntax error: It occurs where the DBMS itself terminates an active
transaction because the database system is not able to execute it. For
example, The system aborts an active transaction, in case of deadlock
or resource unavailability.

2. System Crash
 o System failure can occur due to power failure or other hardware
or software failure. Example: Operating system error.

Fail-stop assumption: In the system crash, non-volatile storage is

assumed not to be corrupted.

3. Disk Failure
o It occurs where hard-disk drives or storage drives used to fail frequently.
It was a common problem in the early days of technology evolution.
o Disk failure occurs due to the formation of bad sectors, disk head crash,
and unreachability to the disk or any other failure, which destroy all or
part of disk storage.

Deadlock in DBMS
A deadlock is a condition where two or more transactions are waiting indefinitely for
one another to give up locks. Deadlock is said to be one of the most feared
complications in DBMS as no task ever gets finished and is in waiting state forever.

For example: In the student table, transaction T1 holds a lock on some rows and
needs to update some rows in the grade table. Simultaneously, transaction T2 holds
locks on some rows in the grade table and needs to update the rows in the Student
table held by Transaction T1.

Now, the main problem arises. Now Transaction T1 is waiting for T2 to release its lock
and similarly, transaction T2 is waiting for T1 to release its lock. All activities come to a
halt state and remain at a standstill. It will remain in a standstill until the DBMS detects
the deadlock and aborts one of the transactions.
Deadlock Avoidance
o When a database is stuck in a deadlock state, then it is better to avoid the
database rather than aborting or restating the database. This is a waste of time
and resource.
o Deadlock avoidance mechanism is used to detect any deadlock situation in
advance. A method like "wait for graph" is used for detecting the deadlock
situation but this method is suitable only for the smaller database. For the larger
database, deadlock prevention method can be used.

Deadlock Detection
In a database, when a transaction waits indefinitely to obtain a lock, then the DBMS should
detect whether the transaction is involved in a deadlock or not. The lock manager maintains
a Wait for the graph to detect the deadlock cycle in the database.

Wait for Graph

o This is the suitable method for deadlock detection. In this method, a graph is
created based on the transaction and their lock. If the created graph has a cycle
or closed loop, then there is a deadlock.
o The wait for the graph is maintained by the system for every transaction which is
waiting for some data held by the others. The system keeps checking the graph
if there is any cycle in the graph.

The wait for a graph for the above scenario is shown below:
Deadlock Prevention
o Deadlock prevention method is suitable for a large database. If the resources
are allocated in such a way that deadlock never occurs, then the deadlock can
be prevented.
o The Database management system analyzes the operations of the transaction
whether they can create a deadlock situation or not. If they do, then the DBMS
never allowed that transaction to be executed.

Wait-Die scheme
In this scheme, if a transaction requests for a resource which is already held with a conflicting
lock by another transaction then the DBMS simply checks the timestamp of both transactions. It
allows the older transaction to wait until the resource is available for execution.

Let's assume there are two transactions Ti and Tj and let TS(T) is a timestamp of any
transaction T. If T2 holds a lock by some other transaction and T1 is requesting for
resources held by T2 then the following actions are performed by DBMS:

1. Check if TS(Ti) < TS(Tj) - If Ti is the older transaction and Tj has held some
resource, then Ti is allowed to wait until the data-item is available for execution. That
means if the older transaction is waiting for a resource which is locked by the
younger transaction, then the older transaction is allowed to wait for resource until it
is available.
2. Check if TS(Ti) < TS(Tj) - If Ti is older transaction and has held some resource and
if Tj is waiting for it, then Tj is killed and restarted later with the random delay but
with the same timestamp.
Wound wait scheme
o In wound wait scheme, if the older transaction requests for a resource which is
held by the younger transaction, then older transaction forces younger one to
kill the transaction and release the resource. After the minute delay, the younger
transaction is restarted but with the same timestamp.
o If the older transaction has held a resource which is requested by the Younger
transaction, then the younger transaction is asked to wait until older releases it.

Concurrency Control
o In the concurrency control, the multiple transactions can be executed
simultaneously.
o It may affect the transaction result. It is highly important to maintain the order
of execution of those transactions.

Problems of concurrency control

Several problems can occur when concurrent transactions are executed in an
uncontrolled manner. Following are the three problems in concurrency control.

1. Lost updates
2. Dirty read
3. Unrepeatable read

1. Lost update problem

o When two transactions that access the same database items contain their
operations in a way that makes the value of some database item incorrect, then
the lost update problem occurs.
o If two transactions T1 and T2 read a record and then update it, then the effect
of updating of the first record will be overwritten by the second update.

Example:
Here,

o At time t2, transaction-X reads A's value.

o At time t3, Transaction-Y reads A's value.
o At time t4, Transactions-X writes A's value on the basis of the value seen at
time t2.
o At time t5, Transactions-Y writes A's value on the basis of the value seen at time
t3.
o So at time T5, the update of Transaction-X is lost because Transaction y
overwrites it without looking at its current value.
o Such type of problem is known as Lost Update Problem as update made by one
transaction is lost here.

2. Dirty Read
o The dirty read occurs in the case when one transaction updates an item of the
database, and then the transaction fails for some reason. The updated database
item is accessed by another transaction before it is changed back to the original
value.
o A transaction T1 updates a record which is read by T2. If T1 aborts then T2
now has values which have never formed part of the stable database.

Example:

o At time t2, transaction-Y writes A's value.

 o At time t3, Transaction-X reads A's value.
o At time t4, Transactions-Y rollbacks. So, it changes A's value back to that of
prior to t1.
o So, Transaction-X now contains a value which has never become part of the
stable database.
o Such type of problem is known as Dirty Read Problem, as one transaction reads
a dirty value which has not been committed.

3. Inconsistent Retrievals Problem

o Inconsistent Retrievals Problem is also known as unrepeatable read. When a
transaction calculates some summary function over a set of data while the
other transactions are updating the data, then the Inconsistent Retrievals
Problem occurs.
o A transaction T1 reads a record and then does some other processing during which
the transaction T2 updates the record. Now when the transaction T1 reads the
record, then the new value will be inconsistent with the previous value.

Example:

Suppose two transactions operate on three accounts.

 o Transaction-X is doing the sum of all balance while transaction-Y is transferring
an amount 50 from Account-1 to Account-3.
o Here, transaction-X produces the result of 550 which is incorrect. If we write this
produced result in the database, the database will become an inconsistent state
because the actual sum is 600.
o Here, transaction-X has seen an inconsistent state of the database.

Concurrency Control Protocol

Concurrency control protocols ensure atomicity, isolation, and serializability of
concurrent transactions. The concurrency control protocol can be divided into
three categories:

1. Lock based protocol

2. Time-stamp protocol
3. Validation based protocol

Lock-Based Protocol
In this type of protocol, any transaction cannot read or write data until it acquires an
appropriate lock on it. There are two types of lock:

1. Shared lock:

o It is also known as a Read-only lock. In a shared lock, the data item can
only read by the transaction.
 o It can be shared between the transactions because when the transaction holds
a lock, then it can't update the data on the data item.

2. Exclusive lock:

o In the exclusive lock, the data item can be both reads as well as written by
the transaction.
o This lock is exclusive, and in this lock, multiple transactions do not modify
the same data simultaneously.

There are four types of lock protocols available:

1. Simplistic lock protocol
It is the simplest way of locking the data while transaction. Simplistic lock-based
protocols allow all the transactions to get the lock on the data before insert or delete
or update on it. It will unlock the data item after completing the transaction.

2. Pre-claiming Lock Protocol

o Pre-claiming Lock Protocols evaluate the transaction to list all the data items on
which they need locks.
o Before initiating an execution of the transaction, it requests DBMS for all the
lock on all those data items.
o If all the locks are granted then this protocol allows the transaction to
begin. When the transaction is completed then it releases all the lock.
o If all the locks are not granted then this protocol allows the transaction to rolls
back and waits until all the locks are granted.

3. Two-phase locking (2PL)

 o The two-phase locking protocol divides the execution phase of the
transaction into three parts.
o In the first part, when the execution of the transaction starts, it seeks
permission for the lock it requires.
o In the second part, the transaction acquires all the locks. The third phase is
started as soon as the transaction releases its first lock.
o In the third phase, the transaction cannot demand any new locks. It only
releases the acquired locks.

There are two phases of 2PL:

Growing phase: In the growing phase, a new lock on the data item may be acquired by
the transaction, but none can be released.

Shrinking phase: In the shrinking phase, existing lock held by the transaction may be
released, but no new locks can be acquired.

In the below example, if lock conversion is allowed then the following phase can happen:

1. Upgrading of lock (from S(a) to X (a)) is allowed in growing phase.

2. Downgrading of lock (from X(a) to S(a)) must be done in shrinking phase.

Example:
The following way shows how unlocking and locking work with 2-PL.

Transaction T1:

o Growing phase: from step 1-3

o Shrinking phase: from step 5-7
o Lock point: at 3

Transaction T2:

o Growing phase: from step 2-6

o Shrinking phase: from step 8-9
o Lock point: at 6

4. Strict Two-phase locking (Strict-2PL)

o The first phase of Strict-2PL is similar to 2PL. In the first phase, after acquiring all
the locks, the transaction continues to execute normally.
 o The only difference between 2PL and strict 2PL is that Strict-2PL does not release
a lock after using it.
o Strict-2PL waits until the whole transaction to commit, and then it releases all the
locks at a time.
o Strict-2PL protocol does not have shrinking phase of lock release.

It does not have cascading abort as 2PL does.

Datbase security threats

Data security is an imperative aspect of any database system. It is of particular
importance in distributed systems because of large number of users, fragmented and
replicated data, multiple sites and distributed control.

Threats in a Database

 Availability loss − Availability loss refers to non-availability of database objects

by legitimate users.
 Integrity loss − Integrity loss occurs when unacceptable operations are
performed upon the database either accidentally or maliciously. This may
happen while creating, inserting, updating or deleting data. It results in
corrupted data leading to incorrect decisions.
 Confidentiality loss − Confidentiality loss occurs due to unauthorized or
unintentional disclosure of confidential information. It may result in illegal
actions, security threats and loss in public confidence.

Measures of Control

The measures of control can be broadly divided into the following categories −
 Access Control − Access control includes security mechanisms in a database
management system to protect against unauthorized access. A user can gain
 access to the database after clearing the login process through only valid user
accounts. Each user account is password protected.
 Flow Control − Distributed systems encompass a lot of data flow from one site
to another and also within a site. Flow control prevents data from being
transferred in such a way that it can be accessed by unauthorized agents. A flow
policy lists out the channels through which information can flow. It also defines
security classes for data as well as transactions.
 Data Encryption − Data encryption refers to coding data when sensitive data is
to be communicated over public channels. Even if an unauthorized agent gains
access of the data, he cannot understand it since it is in an incomprehensible
format.

Cryptography
Cryptography is the science of encoding information before sending via unreliable
communication paths so that only an authorized receiver can decode and use it.
The coded message is called cipher text and the original message is called plain text.
The process of converting plain text to cipher text by the sender is called encoding
or encryption. The process of converting cipher text to plain text by the receiver is
called decoding or decryption.
The entire procedure of communicating using cryptography can be illustrated through
the following diagram −

Conventional Encryption Methods

In conventional cryptography, the encryption and decryption is done using the same
secret key. Here, the sender encrypts the message with an encryption algorithm using a
copy of the secret key. The encrypted message is then send over public communication
channels. On receiving the encrypted message, the receiver decrypts it with a
corresponding decryption algorithm using the same secret key.
Security in conventional cryptography depends on two factors −
 A sound algorithm which is known to all.
 A randomly generated, preferably long secret key known only by the sender and
the receiver.
The most famous conventional cryptography algorithm is Data Encryption
Standard or DES.
The advantage of this method is its easy applicability. However, the greatest problem of
conventional cryptography is sharing the secret key between the communicating
parties. The ways to send the key are cumbersome and highly susceptible to
eavesdropping.
Public Key Cryptography

In contrast to conventional cryptography, public key cryptography uses two different

keys, referred to as public key and the private key. Each user generates the pair of
public key and private key. The user then puts the public key in an accessible place.
When a sender wants to sends a message, he encrypts it using the public key of the
receiver. On receiving the encrypted message, the receiver decrypts it using his private
key. Since the private key is not known to anyone but the receiver, no other person
who receives the message can decrypt it.
The most popular public key cryptography algorithms are RSA algorithm and Diffie–
Hellman algorithm. This method is very secure to send private messages. However,
the problem is, it involves a lot of computations and so proves to be inefficient for long
messages.
The solution is to use a combination of conventional and public key cryptography. The
secret key is encrypted using public key cryptography before sharing between the
communicating parties. Then, the message is send using conventional cryptography
with the aid of the shared secret key.

Digital Signatures

A Digital Signature (DS) is an authentication technique based on public key

cryptography used in e-commerce applications. It associates a unique mark to an
individual within the body of his message. This helps others to authenticate valid
senders of messages.
Typically, a user’s digital signature varies from message to message in order to provide
security against counterfeiting. The method is as follows −
 The sender takes a message, calculates the message digest of the message and
signs it digest with a private key.
 The sender then appends the signed digest along with the plaintext message.
 The message is sent over communication channel.
 The receiver removes the appended signed digest and verifies the digest using
the corresponding public key.
 The receiver then takes the plaintext message and runs it through the same
message digest algorithm.
 If the results of step 4 and step 5 match, then the receiver knows that the
message has integrity and authentic.

DATABASE BACKUP AND RECOVERY:

It is imperative to have a backup of the database in case the original is corrupted

or lost because of any reason. Using this backup, the database can be recovered as it
was before the failure.

Database backup basically means that a duplicate of the database information and data
is created and stored in backup server just to be on the safe side. Transaction logs are
also stored in the backup along with the database data because without them, the data
would be useless.
Reasons of Failure in a Database
There can be multiple reasons of failure in a database because of which a database
backup and recovery plan is required. Some of these reasons are:

 User Error - Normally, user error is the biggest reason of data destruction or
corruption in a database. To rectify the error, the database needs to be restored
to the point in time before the error occured.
 Hardware Failure - This can also lead to loss of data in a database. The
database is stored on multiple hard drives across various locations. These hard
drives may sometimes malfunction leading to database corruption. So, it is
important to periodically change them.
 Natural disasters- A catastrophic event can be a natural calamity like a flood or
earthquake or deliberate sabotage such as hacking of the database. Either way,
the database data may be corrupted and backup may be required.
Methods of Backup
The different methods of backup in a database are:

 Full Backup - This method takes a lot of time as the full copy of the database is
made including the data and the transaction records.
 Transaction Log - Only the transaction logs are saved as the backup in this
method. To keep the backup file as small as possible, the previous transaction log
details are deleted once a new backup record is made.
 Differential Backup - This is similar to full backup in that it stores both the
data and the transaction records. However only that information is saved in the
backup that has changed since the last full backup. Because of this, differential
backup leads to smaller files.
Database Recovery
There are two methods that are primarily used for database recovery. These are:

 Log based recovery - In log based recovery, logs of all database transactions
are stored in a secure area so that in case of a system failure, the database can
recover the data. All log information, such as the time of the transaction, its data
etc. should be stored before the transaction is executed.
 Shadow paging - In shadow paging, after the transaction is completed its data
is automatically stored for safekeeping. So, if the system crashes in the middle of
a transaction, changes made by it will not be reflected in the database

RAID( 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.

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