ASSIGNMENT 1

1.) Define Database. Differentiate Database from Database Management System

(DBMS)

A database is a tool for collecting and organizing information, so it can be

easily accessed, managed and updated. Database can store information
about people, products, orders, or anything else. A database holds a bundle
of organized data for one or more users. These are classified according to
their content, such as document-test, bibliographic and statistical. Many
databases start as a list in a word-processing program or spreadsheet. As the
list grows bigger, redundancies and inconsistencies begin to appear in the
data. The data becomes hard to understand in list form, and there are limited
ways of searching and pulling subsets of data out for review. Once these
problems start to appear, it's a good idea to transfer the data to a database
created by a Database Management System (DBMS), such as Access. So
DBMS is defined as a collection of computer programs that is dedicated for
the management (organization, storage and retrieval) of all databases that
are installed in a system (hard drive or network) while maintaining all the
required features of the data. DBMS is the "tools" used to manipulate the
data in the database. An example of which is SQL SERVER. The DBMS is the
database engine itself, it is the core, actual program that contains the logic to
execute SQL statements. Just like you need an operating system to access
and modify files in the system, you need a DBMS to manipulate databases
stored in the database system.
2.) What are the advantages of a Database Management System?

Controlling Data Redundancy

Sharing of data
Data Consistency
Integration of data
Integration of Constraints
Data Security
Report Writers
Control over concurrency
Backup and recovery procedures
Data Independence
3.) What are the cost and risk of using a database?
Security Risk examples to database are:
Unauthorized or unintended activity or misuse by authorized database users,
database administrators, or network/systems managers, or by unauthorized
users or hackers such as; inappropriate access to sensitive data, metadata or
 functions within databases, or inappropriate changes to the database
programs, structures or security configurations
Malware infections causing incidents such as unauthorized access, leakage or
disclosure of personal or proprietary data, deletion of or damage to the data
or programs, interruption or denial of authorized access to the database,
attacks on other systems, and the unanticipated failure of database services
Overloads, performance constraints and capacity issues resulting in the
inability of authorized users to use databases as intended;
Physical damage to database servers caused by computer room or floods,
overheating, lightning, accidental liquid spills, static discharge, electronic
breakdowns/equipment failures and obsolescence;
Design flaws and programming bugs in databases and the associated
programs and systems, creating various security vulnerabilities (e.g.
unauthorized privilege escalation) data loss/corruption, performance
degradation etc;
Data corruption and/or loss caused by the entry of invalid data or commands,
mistakes in database or system administration processes, sabotage/criminal
damage etc.
COST:
New, specialized personnel Organizations that adopt the database approach
need to hire or train individuals to design and implement databases.
Personnel increase will definitely cost more.
Installation and management cost and complexity A multi-user database
management system is large and complex software that has a high initial
cost. It requires trained personnel to install and operate, and also has annual
maintenance costs. Installing such a system may also require upgrades to the
hardware and data communications systems in a company.
Conversion costs The term "legacy systems" is used to refer to older
applications in an organization that are based on file processing. The cost of
converting these older systems to modern database when damage occurs. A
modern database management system normally automates recovery tasks.
Organizational conflict a database requires an agreement on data
definitions and ownership as well as responsibilities for accurate data
maintenance. The conflicts on data definitions, data organizational
commitment to the database approach.
4.) What are the components of a database environment?
DATA. Data is integrated and shared by many users. A database is a
representation of a collection of related data.
SOFTWARE. Operating system software, DBMS software (that manages within
the database system) and Application programs and utility software
USERS. Application programmers, non-computer science expert and
experienced user.
HARDWARE. Consequences for the architecture of a database system.
Developments; as time sharing, file server, client/server.
PROCEDURES. Instructions and rules that govern the design and use of the
database.