Database Management System Concepts

Database Management System 1
DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
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Database Management System 2
Question 1
(a) Define the following:
i. Data is raw information such as symbols or alphabets.
ii. Information is accurate and timely data that is organized for a particular purpose and is
presented in a manner that has a meaning and enhance understanding.
iii. A database is a collection of information organized for fast search and retrieval by computer.
iv. A database management system (DBMS) is a software application designed to interact with
database, users, and other applications to obtain and analyze data (Kedar, 2009).
v. A database system environment is a system of components including users, data, software,
database handling techniques, and hardware which regulate group of data and data use and
management.
(b)
Storing and retrieving data and information involves a database which is accessed via a database
management system. With the DBMS, data can be inserted into the database and organized in a
presentable way. The DBMS also is used to retrieve information stored. The process of data
storage and retrieval relies on the database system environment whose components facilitate data
entry and access.
(c) Applications supported by database technologies.
Some applications supported by database technologies include:

Database Management System 3
Social media sites - Sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn relies on database technologies to store
user details.
E-commerce sites – Sites such as Amazon and Walmart use database technologies to store
product catalog and user details.
Online Library – An online library is powered by database technologies which allow storage and
retrieval of digital copies of books.
Question 2
(a) Describe DBMS (MySQL):
i. Technical details
MySQL runs on all operating systems including LINUX and Windows. It can be used in many
applications and is popularly used by web-based applications. It’s a light-weight application that
is included as a component of LAMP, WAMP, and XAMPP – enterprise stack used for web
development.
ii. Features
MySQL has a cross-platform support and supports a wide subset of ANSI SQL 99. It supports
stored procedures, triggers, online data definition language, updatable views, information
schema, and cursors (MySQL, 2007). The DBMS has a performance schema for monitoring
proposes and a several SQL model options that control runtime behavior. MySQL supports
distributed transaction support and ACID compliance when InnoDB is used. Other features
supported by the DBMS include full-text indexing and searching, Sub-SELECTs, query caching,