CHAPTER 2

Database System Concepts

and Architecture

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 1- 1

Outline
 Data Models and Their Categories
 Schemas, Instances, and States
 Three-Schema Architecture
 Data Independence
 DBMS Languages
 Centralized and Client-Server Architectures
 Classification of DBMSs

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 2

Data Models
 Data Model:
 A set of concepts to describe the structure of a database,
the operations for manipulating these structures, and
certain constraints that the database should obey.
 Data Model Structure and Constraints:
 Constructs are used to define the database structure
 Constructs typically include elements (and their data
types) as well as groups of elements (e.g. entity, record,
table), and relationships among such groups
 Constraints specify some restrictions on valid data; these
constraints must be enforced at all times

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Data Models (continued)
 Data Model Operations:
 These operations are used for specifying database
retrievals and updates by referring to the
constructs of the data model.
 Operations on the data model may include basic
model operations (e.g. generic insert, delete,
update) and user-defined operations (e.g.
compute_student_gpa, update_inventory)

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Categories of Data Models
 Conceptual (high-level, semantic) data models:
 Provide concepts that are close to the way many users perceive

data.
 (Also called entity-based or object-based data models.)
 Physical (low-level, internal) data models:
 Provide concepts that describe details of how data is stored in the

computer. These are usually specified in an ad-hoc manner

through DBMS design and administration manuals
 Implementation (representational) data models:
 Provide concepts that fall between the above two, used by many

commercial DBMS implementations (e.g. relational data models

used in many commercial systems).
 Self-Describing Data Models:
 Combine the description of data with the data values. Examples

include XML, key-value stores and some NOSQL systems.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 5

Schemas versus Instances
 Database Schema:
 The description of a database.
 Includes descriptions of the database structure,
data types, and the constraints on the database.
 Schema Diagram:
 An illustrative display of (most aspects of) a
database schema.
 Schema Construct:
 A component of the schema or an object within
the schema, e.g., STUDENT, COURSE.

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Schemas versus Instances
 Database State:
 The actual data stored in a database at a
particular moment in time. This includes the
collection of all the data in the database.
 Also called database instance (or occurrence or
snapshot).
 The term instance is also applied to individual
database components, e.g. record instance, table
instance, entity instance

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Database Schema
vs. Database State
 Database State:
 Refers to the content of a database at a moment
in time.
 Initial Database State:
 Refers to the database state when it is initially
loaded into the system.
 Valid State:
 A state that satisfies the structure and constraints
of the database.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 8

Database Schema
vs. Database State (continued)
 Distinction
 The database schema changes very infrequently.
 The database state changes every time the
database is updated.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 9

Example of a Database Schema

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Example of a database state

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Three-Schema Architecture
 Defines DBMS schemas at three levels:
 Internal schema at the internal level to describe physical
storage structures and access paths (e.g indexes).
 Typically uses a physical data model.
 Conceptual schema at the conceptual level to describe the
structure and constraints for the whole database for a
community of users.
 Uses a conceptual or an implementation data model.
 External schemas at the external level to describe the
various user views.
 Usually uses the same data model as the conceptual schema.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 12

The three-schema architecture

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Three-Schema Architecture
 Mappings among schema levels are needed to
transform requests and data.
 Programs refer to an external schema, and are
mapped by the DBMS to the internal schema for
execution.
 Data extracted from the internal DBMS level is
reformatted to match the user’s external view (e.g.
formatting the results of an SQL query for display
in a Web page)

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 14

Data Independence
 Logical Data Independence:
 The capacity to change the conceptual schema
without having to change the external schemas
and their associated application programs.
 Physical Data Independence:
 The capacity to change the internal schema
without having to change the conceptual schema.
 For example, the internal schema may be changed
when certain file structures are reorganized or new
indexes are created to improve database
performance

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Data Independence (continued)
 When a schema at a lower level is changed, only
the mappings between this schema and higher-
level schemas need to be changed in a DBMS
that fully supports data independence.
 The higher-level schemas themselves are
unchanged.
 Hence, the application programs need not be
changed since they refer to the external schemas.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 16

DBMS Languages
 Data Definition Language (DDL)
 Data Definition Language (DDL) is a subset of
SQL. It is a language for describing data and its
relationships in a database.
 Data Manipulation Language (DML)
 High-Level or Non-procedural Languages: These
include the relational language SQL
 May be used in a standalone way or may be
embedded in a programming language
 Low Level or Procedural Languages:
 These must be embedded in a programming
language Slide 2- 17
Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe
DBMS Languages
 Data Definition Language (DDL):
 Used by the DBA and database designers to
specify the conceptual schema of a database.
 In many DBMSs, the DDL is also used to define
internal and external schemas (views).
 In some DBMSs, separate storage definition
language (SDL) and view definition language
(VDL) are used to define internal and external
schemas.
 SDL is typically realized via DBMS commands
provided to the DBA and database designers

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 18

DBMS Languages
 Data Manipulation Language (DML):
 Used to specify database retrievals and updates
 DML commands (data sublanguage) can be
embedded in a general-purpose programming
language (host language), such as COBOL, C,
C++, or Java.
 A library of functions can also be provided to access
the DBMS from a programming language
 Alternatively, stand-alone DML commands can be
applied directly (called a query language).

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Types of DML
 High Level or Non-procedural Language:
 For example, the SQL relational language
 Are “set”-oriented and specify what data to retrieve
rather than how to retrieve it.
 Also called declarative languages.
 Low Level or Procedural Language:
 Retrieve data one record-at-a-time;
 Constructs such as looping are needed to retrieve
multiple records, along with positioning pointers.

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DDL, DML, DCL, and TCL in DBMS.
 DDL is Data Definition Language: DDL allows you to create SQL
statements to make operations with database data structures
 DML is Data Manipulation Language: DML is a Data Manipulation
Language, it’s used to build SQL queries to manipulate (select, insert,
update, delete etc.) data in the database.
 DCL is Data Control Language: Its commands are responsible for
access restrictions inside of the database.
 TCL is Transaction Control Language: Its commands are used to
manage transactions in SQL databases.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe

SQL commands list
Language Command List
CREATE
DROP
DDL ALTER
RENAME
TRUNCATE
SELECT
INSERT
DML UPDATE
DELETE
GRANT
DCL REVOKE
START TRANSACTION
TCL COMMIT
ROLLBACK

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe

SQL Query Language

 SQL query language is nonprocedural. A query takes as input

several tables (possibly only one) and always returns a single
table.
 Example to find all instructors in Comp. Sci. dept
select name
from instructor
where dept_name = 'Comp. Sci.'

 To be able to compute complex functions SQL is usually

embedded in some higher-level language
 Application programs generally access databases through one of
 Language extensions to allow embedded SQL

 Application program interface (e.g., ODBC/JDBC) which allow

SQL queries to be sent to a database

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe
Database Access from Application Program

 SQL does not support actions such as input from users, output
to displays, or communication over the network.
 Such computations and actions must be written in a host
language, such as C/C++, Java or Python, with embedded SQL
queries that access the data in the database.
 Application programs -- are programs that are used to interact
with the database in this fashion.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe

Centralized and
Client-Server DBMS Architectures
 Centralized DBMS:
 Combines everything into single system including-
DBMS software, hardware, application programs,
and user interface processing software.
 User can still connect through a remote terminal –
however, all processing is done at centralized site.

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 25

A Physical Centralized Architecture

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Basic 2-tier Client-Server Architectures
 Specialized Servers with Specialized functions
 Print server
 File server
 DBMS server
 Web server
 Email server
 Clients can access the specialized servers as
needed

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 27

Logical two-tier client server architecture

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Clients
 Provide appropriate interfaces through a client
software module to access and utilize the various
server resources.
 Clients may be diskless machines or PCs or
Workstations with disks with only the client
software installed.
 Connected to the servers via some form of a
network.
 (LAN: local area network, wireless network, etc.)

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DBMS Server
 Provides database query and transaction services to the
clients
 Relational DBMS servers are often called SQL servers,
query servers, or transaction servers
 Applications running on clients utilize an Application
Program Interface (API) to access server databases via
standard interface such as:
 ODBC: Open Database Connectivity standard
 JDBC: for Java programming access

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Two Tier Client-Server Architecture
 Client and server must install appropriate client
module and server module software for ODBC or
JDBC
 A client program may connect to several DBMSs,
sometimes called the data sources.
 In general, data sources can be files or other
non-DBMS software that manages data.
 See Chapter 10 for details on Database
Programming

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Three Tier Client-Server Architecture
 Common for Web applications
 Intermediate Layer called Application Server or Web
Server:
 Stores the web connectivity software and the business logic
part of the application used to access the corresponding
data from the database server
 Acts like a conduit for sending partially processed data
between the database server and the client.
 Three-tier Architecture Can Enhance Security:
 Database server only accessible via middle tier
 Clients cannot directly access database server
 Clients contain user interfaces and Web browsers
 The client is typically a PC or a mobile device connected to
the Web
Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 32
Three-tier client-server architecture

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 Classification of DBMSs
 Based on the data model used
 Legacy: Network, Hierarchical.
 Currently Used: Relational, Object-oriented, Object-
relational
 Recent Technologies: Key-value storage systems,
NOSQL systems: document based, column-based,
graph-based and key-value based. Native XML
DBMSs.
 Other classifications
 Single-user (typically used with personal computers)
vs. multi-user (most DBMSs).
 Centralized (uses a single computer with one
database) vs. distributed (multiple computers, multiple
DBs) Slide 2- 34
Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe
Cost considerations for DBMSs
 Cost Range: from free open-source systems to
configurations costing millions of dollars
 Examples of free relational DBMSs: MySQL, PostgreSQL,
others
 Commercial DBMS offer additional specialized modules,
e.g. time-series module, spatial data module, document
module, XML module
 These offer additional specialized functionality when
purchased separately
 Sometimes called cartridges (e.g., in Oracle) or blades
 Different licensing options: site license, maximum number
of concurrent users (seat license), single user, etc.

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Chapter Summary
 Data Models and Their Categories
 Schemas, Instances, and States
 Three-Schema Architecture
 Data Independence
 DBMS Languages
 Database System Environment
 Centralized and Client-Server Architectures
 Classification of DBMSs

Copyright © 2016 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe Slide 2- 36