Chapter4

SecurityPartII:AuditingDatabaseSystems
ReviewQuestions
1.Whatisalegacysystem?
Response:Legacysystemsarelargemainframesystemsthatwereimplementedfromthe
late1960sthroughthe1980s.Organizationstodaystillmakeextensiveuseofthesesystems.
2.Whatistheflatfilemodel?
Response:Flat files are data files that contain records with no structured relationships to
other files. Theflatfilemodeldescribesanenvironmentinwhichindividualdatafilesarenot
relatedtootherfiles.Endusersinthisenvironmentowntheirdatafilesratherthansharethem
withotherusers.Data files are therefore structured, formatted, and arranged to suit the specific
needs of the owner or primary user of the data. Such structuring, however, may exclude data
attributes that are useful to other users, thus preventing successful integration of data across the
organization.
3.Whatarefourprimaryelementsofthedatabaseenvironment?
Response:The database management system (DBMS), users, the database administrator,
the physical database, and DBMS models.
4.Whattypesofproblemsdoesdataredundancycause?
Response:

a.datastorageproblems

b.dataupdatingproblems

c.currencyofinformationproblems
5.Whatflatfiledatamanagementproblemsaresolvedasaresultofusingthedatabase
concept?
Response:
a.datastorageproblem

b.dataupdateproblem

c.currencyproblem

d.taskdatadependencyproblem

6. What are four ways in which database management systems provide a controlled
environmenttomanageuseraccessandthedataresources?
Response: Program development, backup and recovery, database usage reporting, and
databaseaccess.
7.Explaintherelationshipbetweenthethreelevelsofthedatadefinitionlanguage.Asa
user,whichlevelwouldyoubemostinterestedin?
Response:Onelevelistheschema,whichistheconceptualviewofthedata.Theschema
describestheentiredatabaseanditrepresentsthedatabaselogically.Thesecondlevelisthe
internalview,whichisthephysicalarrangementoftherecords.Atthislevel,thedatarecordsare
describedaswellaslinkagesbetweenfiles.Thenextlevelisthesubschema,whichistheexternal

viewofthedatabasethatspecificusershaveauthorizationtouse.Thisisalsocalledtheuserview
andisthelevelthatusersfindofmostinterest.
8.Whatistheinternalviewofadatabase?
Response:Theinternalviewofadatabaseisthephysicalarrangementoftherecords.It
describes the data structure, the linkages between files, and the physical arrangement of the
records.
9.WhatisSQL?
Response: Structured Query Language (SQL) is a fourthgeneration, nonprocedural
languagethatallowsuserstoeasilyinput,retrieve,andmodifydata.Itisthestandardquery
languageforbothmainframeandmicrocomputerDBMSs.
10.WhatisDML?
Response: Datamanipulationlanguage(DML)istheproprietaryprogramminglanguage
thataparticularDBMSusestoretrieve,process,andstoredata.Entireuserprogramsmaybe
writtenintheDMLor,alternatively,selectedDMLcommandscanbeinsertedintoprogramsthat
are written in universal languages, such as JAVA, C++, and even older languages such as
COBOL and FORTRAN. Inserting DML commands enables standard programs, which were
originally written for the flatfile environment, to be easily converted to work in a database
environment.
11.Whatisadatadictionary,andwhatpurposedoesitserve?
Response:Thedatadictionarydescribeseverydataelementinthedatabase.Itenablesall
users(andprogrammers)toshareacommonviewofthedataresource,thusgreatlyfacilitating
theanalysisofuserneeds.Thedatadictionarymaybeinbothpaperformandonline.Most
DBMSsemployspecialsoftwareformanagingthedatadictionary.
12.Whatarethetwofundamentalcomponentsofdatastructures?
Response:Organizationandaccessmethod.
13.Whatarethecriteriathatinfluencetheselectionofthedatastructure?
Response:

a.rapidfileaccessanddataretrieval

b.efficientuseofdiskstoragespace

c.highthroughputfortransactionprocessing

d.protectionfromdataloss

e.easeofrecoveryfromsystemfailure

f.accommodationoffilegrowth

14.Whatisadataattribute(orfield)?
Response: Adataattribute,orfield,isasingleitemofdata,suchascustomername,
accountbalance,oraddress.
15.Defineadatarecord.
Response: A record is a group of closely related fields that describe the relevant
characteristicsofaninstanceoftheentitybeingtracked.Arecordcanbevisualizedassimilartoa

rowinatableofdata.
16.Whatisarecordassociation?
Response: Recordtypes exist inrelation to other record types. This is calleda record
association.Therearethreebasicrecordassociations:onetoone,onetomany,andmanyto
many.

17.Whatisadatabase?
Response:Adatabaseisthesetofrecordtypesthatanorganizationneedstosupportits
businessprocesses.
18.Whatisanenterprisedatabase?
Response: Anenterprisedatabaseisacommonsetofdatafilesortablesfortheentire
organization,orenterprise.Themostrecentapplicationdevelopmentsystems,suchasOracles
latestpackageorMicrosoftsdotnet,focusontheabilitytouseanenterprisedatabaseasthe
foundationforapplicationsthatinterfaceacrosstheentireenterprise.TheEnterpriseResource
Planning(ERP)softwaresopopularinthe1990sisalsobasedontheprincipleofanenterprise
database.
19. Discuss and give anexampleof onetoone, onetomany, and manytomany record
associations.
Response: A onetooneassociation meansthatforeveryoccurrenceinrecordtypeX,
either zero or one occurrence exists of record type Y. An example would be that for every
student,onlyonesocialsecuritynumberexists.
AonetomanyassociationmeansthatforeveryoccurrenceinrecordtypeX,eitherzero,
one, or manyoccurrences exist of record type Y. An example would be buyers of assigned
seatingatconcerts.Eachpotentialbuyerwouldleavethesalesboxofficewithzero,one,ormany
seats.
A manytomany association is a twoway relationship. For each occurrence of record
typesXandY,zero,one,ormanyoccurrencesexistofrecordtypeYandX,respectively.An
examplewouldbeastudentprofessorrelationship.Eachstudenthasmultipleprofessorseach
semester,andeachprofessorhasmultiplestudentseachsemester.
20.Whyisahierarchicaldatamodelconsideredtobeanavigationaldatabase?Whatare
somelimitationsofthehierarchicaldatabasemodel?
Response: Thehierarchicaldatabasemodelisconsideredtobeanavigationaldatabase
becausetraversingthroughitrequirespredefinedlinkagesbetweenrelatedrecordsthatstartatthe
root.Alimitationofthismodelisthataparentrecordmayownoneormorechild,butnochild
recordmayhavemorethanoneparent.Ifachildlogicallyneedstobelinkedtooneormore
parents,duplicationoffileswithdifferentpredefinedlinkagesisrequired.
21.Whatisapartitioneddatabaseandwhatareitsadvantages?Specifyanydisadvantages.
Response:Thepartitioneddatabaseapproachsplitsthecentraldatabaseintosegmentsor
partitionsthataredistributedtotheirprimaryusers.Theadvantagesofthisapproachfollow:
havingdatastoredatlocalsitesincreasesuserscontrol,transactionprocessingresponsetimeis
improved by permitting local access to data and reducing the volume of data that must be
transmittedbetweenITunits, andpartitioneddatabasescanreducethepotentialeffectsofa
disaster.Bylocatingdataatseveralsites,thelossofasingleITunitdoesnoteliminatealldata
processingbytheorganization.

22.Whatisareplicateddatabase,andwhyisconcurrencycontroldifficulttomanageinthis
setting?
Response: Replicated databases are effective in companies where there exists a high

degreeofdatasharingbutnoprimaryuser.SincecommondataarereplicatedateachITunitsite,
the data traffic between sites is reduced considerably. Figure 4.18 illustrates the replicated
database model. The primary justification for a replicated database is to support readonly
queries.Withdatareplicatedateverysite,dataaccessforquerypurposesisensured,andlockouts
anddelaysduetodatatrafficareminimized.Theproblemwiththisapproachismaintaining
currentversionsofthedatabaseateachsite.SinceeachITunitprocessesonlyitstransactions,
commondatareplicatedateachsiteareaffectedbydifferenttransactions
andreflectdifferentvalues.
23.Whatistimestamping,andwhyisituseful?
Response: The second part of the concurrency control process is to timestamp each
transaction.Asystemwideclockisusedtokeepallsites,someofwhichmaybeindifferenttime
zones,onthesamelogicaltime.EachtimestampismadeuniquebyincorporatingthesitesID
number.Timestampingisusedindistributeddataprocessingenvironmentstohelpensurethe
presenceofcompleteandaccuratedatabyavoidingtheprocessingofconflictingtransactions.
24.Explainthegrandparentparentchildbackuptechnique.Isitusedforsequentialfiles
ordirectaccesstechniques?Why?Howmanygenerationscanbebackedup?
Response:Thisprocedureiswhenthecurrentmasterfile(theparent)isprocessedagainst
thetransactionfiletoproduceanewmasterfile(thechild).Withthenextbatchoftransactions,
thechildbecomesthecurrentmasterfile(theparent),andtheoriginalparentbecomesthebackup
(thegrandparent)file.Thenewmasterfilethatemergesfromtheupdateprocessisthechild.This
procedureiscontinuedwitheachnewbatchoftransactions,creatinggenerationsofbackupfiles.
When the desired number of backup copies is reached, the oldest backup file is erased
(scratched).Thisprocessisforsequentialfilesandbatchdirectaccesssystems.Theupdatesfor
online,realtime,directaccesssystemsoccurcontinuouslythroughouttheday.Themasterfiles
arebackedupatcertainintervals.Thenumberofbackedupmasterfileskeptvariesfromfirmto
firm.Typicallyafirmwillhavemanybackupsduringtheday.Duringtheevening,themasterfile
fromtheendofthedaywillbethefileretainedforbackuppurposes.
25.Distinguishbetweendataaccessandaccessprivileges.Giveanexamplebydesigningand
explainingadatabaseauthorizationtable.
Response: Dataaccessindicateswhetherornotausercanaccessdatafromaparticular
application.Accessprivilegesdefineiftheusercanonlyreadthedata,orifsheorhecaninsert
newrecordsandmodifyordeleteexistingrecords.
26.Whatareinferencecontrols?Whyaretheyneeded?
Response:Inferencecontrolsareimplementedtopreservetheconfidentialityandintegrity
ofthedatabasefromuserswhotrytoinferspecificdatavaluesbyusingqueryfeatures.Thequery
feature might not allowcertain types of direct questions tobe asked, but aclever user may
determine a way to ask multiple questions, which together give the desired answer to the
question.
27.WhatarethefourbasicbackupandrecoveryfeaturesnecessaryinaDBMS?Briefly
explaineach.
Response:

a.Backup.Thisfeaturemakesaperiodicbackupoftheentiredatabase.

b.TransactionLog(Journal).Thisfeaturetracksalltransactionsinatransactionlog.


c. Checkpoint Feature. This feature suspends all data processing while the system
reconcilesthetransactionlogandthedatabasechangelogagainstthedatabase.

d.RecoveryModule.Thisfeatureusethelogsandbackupfilestorestartthesystemaftera
failure.

28.Whatisdataencryption?
Response:Dataencryptionusesanalgorithmtoscrambleselecteddata,thusmakingthem
unreadabletoanintruderbrowsingthedatabase.Inadditiontoprotectingstoreddata,encryption
isusedforprotectingdatathataretransmittedovercommunicationslines.
29.Whatarebiometricdevices?
Response: Biometric devices measure various personal characteristics, such as
fingerprints,voiceprints,retinaprints,orsignaturecharacteristics.Theseusercharacteristicsare
digitizedandstoredpermanentlyinadatabasesecurityfileoronanidentificationcardthatthe
user carries. When an individual attempts to access the database, a special scanning device
captureshisorherbiometriccharacteristics,whichitcompareswiththeprofiledatastoredonfile
ortheIDcard.Ifthedatadonotmatch,accessisdenied.
30.Whatisauserdefinedprocedure?
Response:Auserdefinedprocedureallowstheusertocreateapersonalsecurityprogram
orroutinetoprovidemorepositiveuseridentificationthanasinglepassword.Thus,inadditionto
apassword,thesecurityprocedureasksaseriesofpersonalquestions(suchastheusersmothers
maidenname),whichonlythelegitimateusershouldknow.
DiscussionQuestions
1.Intheflatfiledatamanagementenvironment,usersaresaidtoowntheirdatafiles.What
ismeantbythisownershipconcept?
Response:Inthetraditionaldatamanagementenvironment,applicationsaredeveloped
withdataandprogramdependency.Typically,theseprogramsareapplicationspecific.Thus,the
usersoftheapplicationdatatendtobeproprietaryaboutthedataintheirapplicationsandmay
notbeamenabletosharingsuchdata.
2.Discussthepotentialaggravationsyoumightfaceasastudentasaresultofyour
universityusingatraditionaldatamanagementenvironmentthatis,differentdatabases
fortheregistrar,library,parkingpermits,andsoon.
Response:Ifyouruniversityuseddifferentdatabasesfortheregistrar,library,parking,
foodservices,andcomputingservices,thenumberofformsthatyouwouldhavetofilloutifyour
personaldatachangeswouldbelarge.Forexample,ifyoumovedduringthesemestertoa
differentapartment,theuniversityshouldbenotified.Inthissituation,youmightberequiredto
gotoeachserviceindividuallyandfilloutanaddressform,oryoumightgotoonecentral
locationandfilloutaformthatiscopiedandsenttothevariousareasforupdate.Assumethatin
thiscaseyouraddresswaskeyedincorrectlybytheregistrar.Youreceivedcorrespondencefrom
theregistrarandassumedthattheaddresscorrectionwasmade.However,akeyingerrorwas
madebythelibrarystaff,andyoudidnotreceivenotificationthatyouhadaforgottenpastdue
librarybook.Aftertheendofthesemester,youdidnotreceiveyourfinalgradereport.Whenyou
calledtheregistrar,youfoundoutthatthelibraryreportedthatyouhadanoverduebookandyour
gradesshouldbehelduntilthebookisreturnedandthefineispaid.
3.Discusswhycontrolproceduresoveraccesstothedatabasebecomemorecrucialunder
thedatabaseconceptthanintheflatfiledatamanagementenvironment.Whatroledoesthe

DBMSplayinhelpingtocontrolthedatabaseenvironment?
Response:Underthedatabaseconcept,thedataiscentrallystoredwithmanydifferent
usersaccessingthedatabase.However,eachusershouldnothaveaccesstothewholedatabase.
Undertheflatfiledatamanagementenvironmentwherethedataandprogramswerelinked,the
useraccessproblemwasnotasgreatathreat.TheDBMSisaspecialsoftwaresystemthatis
programmedtoknowwhichdataeachuserisauthorizedtoaccess.Thiscontrolledauthorization
iscrucialincentrallystoredDBMSs.
4.Whatistherelationshipbetweenaschemaandasubschema?
Response:Theschemarepresentsthephysicalstorageoftheentiredatabase.Asubschema
isasubsetoftheentiredatabase;itrepresentsausersviewofthedatabase.Numeroussub
schemasexistforeveryschema.
5.Discussthetwowaysinwhichuserscanaccessthedatabaseinadatabaseenvironment.
Response:Thefirstwaytheusermayaccessthedatabaseisthroughuserprograms
preparedbysystemsprofessionals.TheseprogramssenddataaccessrequeststotheDBMS.The
DBMSthenvalidatestherequestsandretrievesthedataforprocessing.Thepresenceofthe
DBMSistransparenttotheuser.Thesecondmethodinvolvesdirectinquiryonthepartofthe
user.DBMSshavebuiltindatainquiriesthatallowauthorizeduserstoretrieveandmanipulate
datawithouttheassistanceoftheprofessionalprogrammers.
6.Howarespecialdatabasecommandsinsertedintoconventionalapplicationprograms?
Whyisthisnecessary?
Response:Adatamanipulationlanguage,whichcaneitherretrieve,modify,orcontrol,is
usedtoinsertspecialdatabasecommandsintoconventionalapplicationprograms.Thismaybe
necessarytoallowstandardprogramssuchasCOBOLandFORTRANtointeractwithand
manipulatethedatabase.
7.WhymightitbeadvantageousforanorganizationtouseDMLcommandswrittenin
COBOLversusaproprietaryprogramminglanguage?
Response:Usingastandardprogramminglanguage,suchasCOBOL,withDML
commandsinsertedonanasneededbasistoretrieve,process,andstoredata,maybebeneficialin
maintainingsomedegreeofindependencefromtheDBMSvendor.Iftheorganizationswitches
vendorsandthenewvendorusesadifferentDML,onlytheDMLcommandsneedtobereplaced,
nottheentireprogram.
8.SQLhasbeensaidtoplacepowerinthehandsoftheuser.Whatismeantbythis
statement?
Response:SQLallowsuserstoretrievedatafrommanydifferentfileswithoutthe
assistanceofprogrammingprofessionals.Thus,iftheuserhasaccesstodatafilesandknowsthe
SQL,whichisveryuserfriendly,theusermayretrievethedatainstantaneously.
9.Discusstheimportanceoftheroleofthedatabaseadministrator.Whywasntsucharole
necessaryinthetraditionaldatamanagementenvironment?Whattasksareperformedby
the
DBA?
Response:Inthetraditionaldatamanagementenvironment,thedatawerenotcentrally

storedformanydifferentapplicationstouse.Becausethedataarecentrallystoredandsharedby
manyusersinadatabaseenvironment,theneedforanindividualtocareforandcontrolthese
filesarose.Thedatabaseadministratorisresponsiblefordatabaseplanning,developingthedata
requirementsanddatadictionary,databasedesignandcontrols,databaseimplementationand
accesscontrols,operationandmaintenance,andestablishingandreviewingthestandardsand
procedures.

10.Asusersdeterminenewcomputerapplicationneeds,requestsmustbesenttoboththe
systemprogrammersandtheDBA.Whyisitimportantthatthesetwogroupsperform
separatefunctions,andwhatarethesefunctions?
Response:Thesystemprogrammersprogramthemannerinwhichthedatawillbe
retrieved,manipulated,reported,andstored.Theydonotneed,andshouldnothave,accesstothe
data,exceptperhapstemporarilytotesttheprograms.Thedatabaseadministratorcontrolsaccess
tothedata.Ifonepersonhastheauthoritytowriteprogramsandaccessdata,thencontrolissues
becomeaconcern.Thepotentialtocommitfraudorembezzlementordestroyoralterthe
companysrecordsbecomestoogreat.
11.Howcandatabecentralizedinadistributeddataprocessingsystem?
Response:Thedataarestoredcentrally,butupdatedorprocessed,atthelocal(remote)
site.Thus,dataareretrievedfromthecentralizeddatastore,processedlocally,andthensentback
tothecentralizeddatastore.
12.Inadistributeddataprocessingsystem,whycantemporaryinconsistenciesresultin
permanentdamagetoaccountingrecords?Explainwithanexample.
Response:Inbetweenthetimeaprocessingapplication(a)updatesasubsidiaryaccount
and(b)updatesthecontrolaccount,atemporaryinconsistencyexists.Permanentdamagemay
resultbetweenthetimeanaccountvalueisreadandthetimeitiswrittenorupdated.
Considerthefollowingexamplewhereapaymentforsubaccount1isreceivedfor$500anda
paymentisreceivedforsubaccount2for$800.

Time
1:00:001
1:00:001
1:00:002
1:00:002
1:00:003
1:00:003
1:00:004
1:00:005

Site
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B

Instruction
SubAccount1
Readsubacct1
1,000
Readsubacct2
Updatesubacct1 500
Updatesubacct2
Readcontrolacct
Readcontrolacct
Updatecontrolacct
Updatecontrolacct

SubAccount2

AR
Control
Account

3,000
2,200
20,000
20,000
19,500
19,200

Thus,thedataneverreflectthesecondtolastinstructionindicated.TheARcontrolaccount
shouldreflectpaymentsreceivedof$1,300andhaveavalueof$18,700,butreflectpaymentsof
only$800.Thus,thetransactionof$500islost,andthecontrolandsubsidiaryledgersareoutof
balance.
13.Explainthedeadlockphenomenon.Discusshowitcouldoccurwithaphoneinmail
ordersystemthatlockstheinventoryrecordsuntiltheorderiscomplete.
Response:Deadlockoccurswhenmultiplesiteslockeachotherout.Take,forexample,a
processwhereCustomer1wantstoordertwoitemsItemAandItemB.Thecustomerinforms
thephoneclerkthatheorshewantsItemA,andtherecordforItemAislockeduntiltheorderis
completeincaseanychangesaremade.Customer1thenrequestsItemB,butitislockedby
anothercustomersorder.Thephoneclerkwillapologizeforthedelayandsaythesystemisslow
today.Meanwhile,Customer2whohasjustorderedItemBandlockeditrequestsItemA,which
islockedbecauseofCustomer1sorder.ThephoneclerkwhoishelpingCustomer2will

apologizeforthedelayandsaythesystemisslowtoday.Unfortunately,neitherrecordcanbe
unlockeduntilthecompetingordersarecomplete,whichresultsindeadlock.Thisconditionwill
notberesolveduntilsomeinterventionoccurs.

14.Whichdatabasemethodwouldbemostappropriateforticketsalesatthirtydifferent
outletstoanassignedseatingconcert?Why?
Response:Partitioneddatabaseswouldnotbeappropriatebecausetheseatsreceivedby
thecustomerwouldbeafunctionoftheticketoutletwherethepurchaseismade.Replicated
databaseswouldnotbeappropriatebecauseduplicateticketswouldbesold.Centralized
databaseswithlocalprocessingaretheappropriatemethod.Theseatdatawouldbecentrally
stored.Onlythedatafortheseatbeingpurchasedwouldbelockedandsenttotheappropriate
node.Oncetheseatissold,therecordisprocessedlocallyandthenthedataaretransmittedback
tothecentralcomputer.
15.Whyisitriskytoallowprogrammerstocreateusersubschemasandassignaccess
authoritytousers?Whatunethicaltechniquedoprogrammerssometimesusewhenthey
arenotallowedtoassignaccessauthoritytousers?
Response:Suchasubschemaisasubsetofthetotaldatabasethatdefinestheusersaccess
authority.Thedatabaseadministratorhasprimaryresponsibilityfordesigningtheseauthorization
tables.Theprogrammersshouldnotperformthistaskbecausetheconceptofauthorizationcould
becircumvented.Thetasksofprogrammingandthecreationofuserauthorizationtablesare
incompatibletasksandshouldbeperformedbydifferentindividuals.
16.Isaccesscontrolofgreaterconcernintheflatfileordatabasefileenvironment?
Response:Intheflatfileenvironment,dataandprogramsweredependent.User
authorizationwastiedtoeachspecificapplication.Underthedatabasefileenvironment,allofthe
dataiscentrallystoredandshared,andaccesscontrolbecomesagreaterconcern.Itisdealtwith
bytheuseofdataauthorizationtables.
17.Howcanpasswordsactuallycircumventsecurity?Whatactionscanbetakento
minimizethis?
Response:Usersmaysharetheirpasswords,writedowntheirpasswords,oruseeasily
guessedpasswords.Protectionagainsttheseincludessoftwarethatallowsonlysmartpasswords
andonetimepasswordsusedinconjunctionwithsmartcards.
18.Describethecharacteristicsofproperlydesignedrelationaltables.
Response:Properlydesignedtablespossessthefollowingcharacteristics:

a.Alloccurrencesattheintersectionofarowandacolumnareasinglevalue.Nomultiple
values(repeatinggroups)areallowed.
b.Theattributevaluesinanycolumnmustallbeofthesameclass.
c.Eachcolumninagiventablemustbeuniquelynamed.However,differenttablesmay
containcolumnswiththesamename.

d.Eachrowinthetablemustbeuniqueinatleastoneattribute.Thisattributeisthe
primarykey.
19.Inadatabaseenvironment,individualusersmaybegrantedsummaryandstatistical
queryaccesstoconfidentialdatatowhichtheynormallyaredenieddirectaccess.Describe
howsecuritycanbepreservedthroughinferencecontrols.
Response:Inferencecontrolsareusedtopreventusersfrominferring,throughquery
features,specificdatavaluesthattheyotherwiseareunauthorizedtoaccess.Inferencecontrols
attempttopreventthreetypesofcompromisestothedatabase.

a.Positivecompromise.Theuserdeterminesthespecificvalueofadataitem.
b. Negativecompromise. Theuserdeterminesthatadataitemdoesnothaveaspecific
value.
c.Approximatecompromise.Theuserisunabletodeterminetheexactvalueofanitem
butisabletoestimateitwithsufficientaccuracytoviolatetheconfidentialityofthedata.
20.DescribethebackupandrecoveryfeaturesofcentralizedDBMSs.
Response:

a.Backup.Thebackupfeaturemakesaperiodicbackupoftheentiredatabase.Thisisan
automaticprocedurethatshouldbeperformedatleastonceaday.Thebackupcopyshouldthen
bestoredinasecureremotearea.
b.Transactionlog(journal).Thetransactionlogfeatureprovidesanaudittrailofall
processedtransactions.Itliststransactionsinatransactionlogfileandrecordstheresulting
changestothedatabaseinaseparatedatabasechangelog.
c.Checkpointfeature.Thecheckpointfeaturesuspendsalldataprocessingwhilethe
systemreconcilesthetransactionlogandthedatabasechangelogagainstthedatabase.Atthis
point,thesystemisinaquietstate.Checkpointsoccurautomaticallyseveraltimesanhour.Ifa
failureoccurs,itisusuallypossibletorestarttheprocessingfromthelastcheckpoint.Thus,only
afewminutesoftransactionprocessingmustberepeated.
d.Recoverymodule.Therecoverymoduleusesthelogsandbackupfilestorestartthe
systemafterafailure.
MultipleChoiceQuestions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

C
D
C
B
D
D
A
C
B
C
B
E

Problems
1.DBMSversusFlatFileProcessing
TheWernerManufacturingCorporationhasaflatfileprocessingsystem.Theinformation
processingfacilityisverylarge.Differentapplications,suchasorderprocessing,production
planning,inventorymanagement,accountingsystems,payroll,andmarketingsystems,use
separatetapeanddiskfiles.Thecorporationhasrecentlyhiredaconsultingfirmtoinvestigatethe
possibilityofswitchingtoadatabasemanagementsystem.Prepareamemotothetop
managementteamatWernerexplainingtheadvantagesofaDBMS.Also,discussthenecessityof
adatabaseadministratorandthejobfunctionsthispersonwouldperform.

Response:
August23,20XX
MEMOTO:AlBrindifi,VPOperations

CarlaGlasser,VPFinance
JamesCloster,VPMarketing

JuliaTinner,Controller

BethClark,ManagerofInformationSystems
FROM:SolutionsConsultants
SUBJ:Conversionofdataprocessingsystems
Afterexaminingtheoperationsofyourorganizationandderivingaroughcutestimateofyour
needs,thisconsultingteamfeelsthatyourorganizationwouldbenefitgreatlyfromadatabase
managementsystem.Adatabasemanagementsystemwillallowdatatobesharedamongthe
departments,thusfacilitatingcommunication.Oneoftheproblemsthathasrepeatedlybeen
broughttoourattentionistheneedbyusergroupsforinformationthatiscurrentlykeptbythe
organization.Theseusergroupsarehavingtroublegainingaccesstothedatabecausethedata
doesnotresideintheirapplications.Adatabasemanagementsystemwillprovideacentraldata
sourcewherebyeachauthorizedusergroupmaygainaccesstothedata.Further,wesee
inefficienciesinprocessingdataduetodataduplicationbyvariousapplications.Anevengreater
problemisthatthedataareoftentimesnotconsistentfromoneapplicationtoanother.TheDBMS
willreducedataduplicationanddataredundancy.
WeproposethatyoubeginaconversiontoaDBMS.Thisconversionwillrequirethata
databaseadministratorbeappointedorhired.ADBMSrequiresthatthecentraldatastorebe
diligentlyplanned,managed,andmaintained.Thedatabaseadministratorwouldperformthese
functionsaswellascontroluserauthorizationofthedata.
2.DatabaseDesign
Designarelationaldatabasesystemforalargecostumerentalstore.Thestorehasapproximately
3,200customerseachyear.Itisstockedwithover500costumesinvarioussizes.Therental
costumesandotheritemsthatmaybepurchasedbythecustomer(e.g.,makeupandteeth)are
purchasedfromapproximatelythirtyfivedifferentsuppliers.Designthenecessarydatabasefiles.
Makesuretheyareinthirdnormalform,andindicatethenecessarylinkages.
Response:Onthefollowingpageisalistofdatabasefilesuniquetothistypeofbusiness.
Additionally,traditionalaccountingfileswouldbenecessary.Thekeyfieldsusedforlinkingare
inboldface.

CostumeMaster
CostumeIDNumber
Description
No.ofCostumes
No.ofTimesRented
No.ofTimesRentedpastyr
VendorIDNumber

CostumeInventory

NumberCostumeIDNumber
CopyNumber
PurchaseDate
Size
No.ofTimesRented
LastDateRented
StatusCheckedOut

CustomerMaster
CustomerIDNumber
LastName
FirstName
MiddleInitial
Address1
Address2
City
State
ZipCode
LastDateRentedaCostume

VendorMaster
VendorID
CompanyName
Address1
Address2
City
State
ZipCode

OpenCostumeTransactionLog
CustomerIDNumber
CostumeIDNumber
CopyNumber
DateRented
DateDue
TransactionNumber

ClosedCostumeTransactionLog
CustomerIDNumber
CostumeIDNumber
CopyNumber
DateRented
DateDue
TransactionNumber
DateBack

SundriesInventory
ItemNumber
Description
QuantityonHand
EOQ
SafetyStock

SundriesTransactionLog
ItemNumber
Quantity
Datesold

FineLog
CustomerIDNumber
TransactionNumber
AmountDue
AmountPaid
DatePaid

3.DatabaseDesign
SearsRoebuck,themostwellknownandoldestmailorderretailerinthecountry,discontinued
itsmailorderoperationsafewyearsago.Othermailordermarketersarebeginningtouse
informationsystemstotrimprintingandpostagecostsoftheircatalogs.Theyalsowanttomore
effectivelytargettheircustomers.Explainhowanappropriatelydesignedcodingsystemfor
inventoryitemsincorporatedinadatabasemanagementsystemwithSQLcapabilitiescouldallow
morecostefficientandeffectivemailorderoperations.Sketchthenecessarydatabasefiles.
Response:Mailordercatalogsarebeginningtobecustomizedbaseduponthepreferencesand
purchasingpatternsofthecustomers.Ifdataarestoredregardingcustomerpreferencesand
buyingpatterns,thencatalogscontainingonlytheitemsthatarebelievedtobeofvaluetothe
customerneedtobecontainedinthecatalog.Printingcostsandpostagecostswouldbesaved.
Also,moreitemsthatfitthepatternofthecustomercouldbeincluded.Further,thecustomer
wouldnothavetoweedthroughthecatalogtofindtheitemsthatsheorhelikes.Thechanging
technologymakescustomizedorsemicustomized(forgroupsofpeople)catalogsareality.

Listedbelowaresomefilesandsomefieldsinthefilesthatwouldbenecessary,inadditiontothe
traditionalaccountsreceivable,cashreceipts,vendor,andgeneralledgerfiles.
Customer
Sales
MasterFile
File
CustomerNumber
CustomerNumber
Name
SalesOrderNumber
Address
$AmountofItems
Phone
Taxes
CreditCardType
Freight
CreditCardNumber
TotalAmount
CreditCardExpiration
LastPurchaseDate
CumulativePurchaseAmount
PurchasesinLast12months
SalesOrderDetail
PurchasesinLast3months
File
$PurchasesofTypeA
SalesOrderNumber
$PurchasesofTypeB
ItemNumber
$PurchasesofTypeC
Quantity
$PurchasesofTypeD
Discount
RequestTypeAcatalog
RequestTypeBcatalog
RequestTypeCcatalog
RequestTypeDcatalog

Inventory
MasterFile
ItemNumber
ItemDescription
ProductType
QuantityonHand
SellingPrice

InventoryType
File
ProductType
ProductClassification

4.DatabaseDeadlock
Howisalockoutdifferentfromadeadlock?Giveanaccountingexampletoillustratewhya
databaselockoutisnecessaryandhowadeadlockcanoccur.Useactualtablenamesinyour
example.
Response:
Lockout.Theexamplebelowillustrateshowtwodifferenttransactionsarebeingprocessed
againstthesameARcontrolaccountwithinthesametimeframe.Theindividuallogicstepsare
shownintheiractualsequenceofexecution.Ifnodatabaselockoutwereinplace,theARcontrol
valueof$20,000isretrievedbybothusersofthesystem.Oneuserispostingapaymenttosub
account1of$500andtheotherispostingapaymenttosubaccount2for$800.

Time
1:00:001
1:00:001
1:00:002
1:00:002
1:00:003
1:00:003
1:00:004
1:00:005

Site
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B

Instruction
SubAccount1
Readsubacct1
1,000
Readsubacct2
Updatesubacct1 500
Updatesubacct2
Readcontrolacct
Readcontrolacct
Updatecontrolacct
Updatecontrolacct

SubAccount2

AR
Control
Account

3,000
2,200

20,000
20,000
19,500
19,200

Theupdateprocessdoesnotreflectthesecondtolastinstructionexecuted.TheARcontrol
accountshouldreflectpaymentsreceivedof$1,300,andhaveavalueof$18,700,butonly
$800ofpaymentsareaccountedfor.Thus,atransactionislost,andthecontrolandsubsidiary

ledgersareoutofbalance.
Deadlock.Adeadlockoccurswhenmultiplesiteslockouteachother.Takeforexampleamail
ordercompanyinwhichtwocustomersareprocessingtransactionssimultaneously.Customer1
wantstoorder2itemsItemAandItemB.Customer2ispurchasingItemBandItemA.
Customer1informsthephoneclerkthatheorshewantsItemAandtherecordforItemAis
lockeduntiltheorderiscomplete.Meanwhile,Customer2ordersItemBfromanotherphone
clerkwholocksit.Customer1thenrequestsItemB,whichislockedbyCustomer2sorder.The
phoneclerkapologizesforthedelayandsaysthesystemisslowtoday.Customer2thenrequests
ItemA,whichislockedbyCustomer1sorder.ThephoneclerkwhoishelpingCustomer2
apologizesforthedelayandsaysthesystemisslowtoday.Unfortunately,neithertransactioncan
becompleted,resultingindeadlock.Thisconditionwillnotberesolvedunlesssometypeof
interventionoccurs.
5.SystemConfiguration
FirstStateBankprovidesfullbankingservicestoitscustomersthrough
automatictellermachines.
checkingandsavingaccounts.
certificatesofdeposits.
loans.
electronicpayroll.
electronicpaymentofcustomersbills.
Thebankhaselevenbranchofficesthatcovera30mileradius.Themainofficemaintainsa
mainframecomputerthatservesthebranchoffices.Thecompetitivenatureofthebanking
industryrequiresthatcustomersatisfactionbeconsidered.Customerswantpromptandaccurate
servicingoftransactions.Thus,accuracyandspeedarecrucialtothesuccessofFirstStateBank.
HowwouldyousuggestthedatabasesanddatacommunicationsfacilitiesbeconfiguredforFirst
StateBank?
Response:
Thisconfigurationwillentailahybridofcentralizedanddecentralizedprocessing.Because
customersshouldbeabletobankatanyofthe11branches,cashwithdrawaltransactionsfrom
eachbranchshouldbecentrallyprocessedandthecustomerdatabasesupdated.Depositsofcash
andchecksandpaymentofcustomersbillscanbestoredonremotecomputers,withthedata
beingsenttothemainframeperiodically.Bankstendtobemoreconcernedwiththepromptness
inrecordingcashwithdrawalsthancashreceipts.Thus,thedatarepresentingthepaymentof
customersbillsmaybesenttothemainframecomputerfourtosixtimesadayforupdating,
whiledepositsofcashmaybetransmittedonlytwiceaday.Thepayrollaccountscanbestored
andprocessedontheremotecomputersbecausetheseaccountsdonothaveATMcards.Further,
themainframeatthemainofficecanprocessmoreefficientlyifafrontendprocessorisusedto
relievethemainframeofdatacommunicationprocesses.Acommoncarriernetworkisprobablya
goodcommunicationmedium,butthedatashouldbeencrypted.Theindividualtellerterminals
shouldbeconnectedtotheremotemaincomputerviadumbterminals.Thetellersshouldnothave
anyreasontodownloaddataregardingcustomeraccounts.

6.DatabaseAuthorizationTable
Thefollowinginformationisstoredintworelationaldatabasefiles.
EmployeeMasterFile
SocialSecuritynumber
Name
Address
Datehired
Hourlywagerate
Maritalstatus
Numberofexemptions

WeeklyPayrollFile
SocialSecuritynumber
Hoursworked
Deductions
Bonuses

Required:
a.BogeyworksinpersonnelandBacallworksinpayroll.Prepareadatabaseauthorization
tablethatyoubelieveisappropriateforBogeyandBacall.
b.Discussanypotentialexposureiftherightpreventiondevicesarenotinplaceorif
BogeyandBacallcollude.
Response:
a.Seetablebelow.

Department
User
Password
Authority:
Read
Insert
Modify
Delete

Personnel
Bogey
casa

Personnel
Bacall
blanca

Payroll
Bogey
casa

Payroll
Bacall
blanca

Y
Y
Y
Y

Y
N
N
N

N
N
N
N

Y
Y
Y
Y

b.Iftherightpreventiondeviceisnotineffect,thenBacallmayinsertfictitiousemployeesand
writecheckstoemployeeswhodonotexistandkeepthechecksforherself.Further,Bacallmay
beabletopayherfriendsorrelativesmorethantheyearnedbyincreasingtheirhourlywage
rates.IfBogeyandBacallcollude,thentheycanperformthesetasks.Othercontrolsareneeded,
suchassupervisorreviewofpaychecksand/orapaymasterotherthanBacall,distributingchecks.
7.DistributedDatabases
TheXYZCompanyisageographicallydistributedorganizationwithseveralsitesaroundthe
country.Usersatthesesitesneedrapidaccesstocommondataforreadonlypurposes.Which
distributeddatabasemethodisbestunderthesecircumstances?Explainyourreasoning.
Response:Thebestdistributedapproachisareplicateddatabase.
Reasoning:
Theusersaredistributedaroundthecountryandneedrapidaccesstodata.Acentralized
modelmayresultinlongdelaysbecauseofnetworktrafficanddatabaselockout.

 Userdataneedsarecommon,notunique.Becausetherearenoidentifiableprimaryusers,
partitioningthedatabasewillaccomplishnothing.
Becauseusageisreadonly,changeswillnotoccuranddatabaseconcurrencyisnota
problem.

8.DistributedDatabases
TheABCCompanyisageographicallydistributedorganizationwithseveralsitesaroundthe
country.Usersatthesesitesneedrapidaccesstodatafortransactionprocessingpurposes.The
sitesareautonomous;theydonotsharethesamecustomers,products,orsuppliers.Which
distributeddatabasemethodisbestunderthesecircumstances?Explainyourreasoning.
Response:Thebestdistributedapproachisapartitioneddatabase.
Reasoning:
Theusersaredistributedaroundthecountryandneedrapidaccesstodata.Acentralized
modelmayresultinlongdelaysbecauseofnetworktrafficanddatabaselockout.
Userdataneedsareuniquewithidentifiableprimaryusers.Thereisnoneedtoreplicatethe
entiredatabase.
Becauseusersareunique,changestothedatabasewillnotcausedatabaseconcurrency
problems.