Three Level Architecture

By
Parteek Bhatia
Faculty
Department of Comp Sc & Engg
Thapar University
Patiala
parteek.bhatia@gmail.com
 Three Level Architecture

An early proposal for a standard terminology and general

architecture for database systems was produced in 1971 by the
DBTG (Data Base Task Group) appointed by the Conference on
Data Systems and Languages (CODASYL, 1971). The DBTG
recognized the need for a two level approach with a system view
called the schema and user views called subschema. The American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) recognized the need for a three
level approach with a system catalog.
 
There are following three levels or layers of DBMS architecture:
 
 
      External Level
 
      Conceptual Level
 
      Internal Level
 
Objective of the Three Level Architecture
 

      Each user should be able to access the same data, but have a
different customized view of the data.
      User’s interaction with the database should be independent of
storage considerations.
 
      The Database Administrator (DBA) should be able to change the
database storage structures without affecting the user’s views.
 
      The internal structure of the database should be unaffected by
changes to the physical aspects of storage, such as the changeover to a
new storage device.
 
      The DBA should be able to change the conceptual structure of the
database without affecting all users.
External Level or View level
 
It is the users’ view of the database. This level describes that part of the
database that is relevant to each user. External level is the one, which is
closest to the end users. This level deals with the way in which
individual users view data. Individual users are given different views
according to the user’s requirement.
External level is also known as the view level. In addition different
views may have different representations of the same data. For example,
one user may view dates in the form (day, month, year), while another
may view dates as (year, month, day).
Conceptual Level or Logical level
 It is the community view of the database. This level describes what data
is stored in the database and the relationships among the data. The
middle level in the three level architecture is the conceptual level.
This level contains the logical structure of the entire database as seen by
the DBA. It is a complete view of the data requirements of the
organization that is independent of any storage considerations. The
conceptual level represents:
       All entities, their attributes, and their relationships;
      The constraints on the data;
      Security and integrity information.
 .
This level must not contain any storage dependent details. For instance,
the description of an entity should contain only data types of attributes
(for example, integer, real, character) and their length (such as the
maximum number of digits or characters), but not any storage
considerations, such as the number of bytes occupied. Conceptual level
is also known as the logical level
Internal Level or Storage level
 It is the physical representation of the database on the computer. This
level describes how the data is stored in the database. The internal level
is the one that concerns the way the data are physically stored on the
hardware.
The internal level covers the physical implementation of the database to
achieve optimal runtime performance and storage space utilization. It
covers the data structures and file organizations used to store data on
storage devices. It interfaces with the operating system access methods
to place the data on the storage devices, build the indexes, retrieve the
data, and so on.
 
The internal level is concerned with such things as:
       Storage space allocation for data and indexes;
       Record descriptions for storage (with stored sizes for data items);
       Record placement;
       Data compression and data encryption techniques.
  
There will be only one conceptual view, consisting of the abstract
representation of the database in its entirely. Similarly there will be only
one internal or physical view, representing the total database, as it is
physically stored.
 
Schema
 The overall description of the database is called the Database Schema.
There are three different types of schema in the database corresponding
to each data view of database. In other words, the data views at each of
three levels are described by schema.
  A schema is defined as an outline or a plan that describes the
records and relationships existing at the particular level. The External
view is described by means of a schema called external schema that
correspond to different views of the data. Similarly the Conceptual view
is defined by conceptual schema, which describes all the entities,
attributes, and relationship together with integrity constraints. Internal
View is defined by internal schema, which is a complete description of
the internal model, containing definition of stored records, the methods
of representation, the data fields, and the indexes used.
 
There is only one conceptual schema and one internal schema per
database. The schema also describes the way in which data elements at
one level can be mapped to the corresponding data elements in the next
level.
 Thus, we can say that schema establishes correspondence between the
records and relationships in the two levels. In a relational database, the
schema defines the tables, the fields in each table, and the relationships
between fields and tables. Schema are generally stored in a data
dictionary.
 The schema is specified during the database design process and is not
expected to change frequently. However the actual data in the database
may change frequently;  The data in the database at any particular point
in time is called a database instance. Therefore, many database instances
can correspond to the same database schema. The schema is sometimes
called the intension of the database, while an instance is called an
extension (or state) of the database.
To understand the difference between the three levels, consider again
the database schema that describes College Database system. If User1
is a Library clerk, the external view would contain only the student
and book information. If User2 is a account office clerk then he/she
may be interested in students detail and fee detail.
Mapping between Views
External/Conceptual Mapping: Each external schema is related to the
conceptual schema by the external/conceptual mapping. A mapping
between the external and conceptual views gives the correspondence
among the records and the relationships of the external and conceptual
views. There is a mapping from a particular logical record in the external
view to one (or more) conceptual record(s) in the conceptual view.
Names of the fields and records, for instance, may be different. A
number of conceptual fields can be combined into a single external field,
for example, Last_Name and First_Name at the conceptual level but
Name at the external level. A given external record could be derived
from a number of conceptual records.
 
Conceptual/Internal Mapping: Conceptual schema is related to the
internal schema by the conceptual/internal mapping. This enables the
DBMS to find the actual record or combination of records in physical
storage that constitute a logical record in conceptual schema.
Mapping between the conceptual and the internal levels specifies the
method of deriving the conceptual record from the physical database.
 
Data Independence-Achievement of Layered Architecture of DBMS
 There are two kinds of data independence:
       Logical data independence
      Physical data independence
 Logical data independence
 Logical data independence indicates that the conceptual schema can be
changed without affecting the existing external schemas. The change
would be absorbed by the mapping between the external and conceptual
levels.  
Physical data independence
 Physical data independence indicates that the physical storage structures
or devices could be changed without affecting conceptual schema. The
change would be absorbed by the mapping between the conceptual and
internal levels. Physical data independence is achieved by the presence
of the internal level of the database and the mapping or transformation
from the conceptual level of the database to the internal level.
If there is a need to change the file organization or the type of physical
device used as a result of growth in the database or new technology, a
change is required in the conceptual/internal mapping between the
conceptual and internal levels.
The physical data independence criterion requires that the conceptual
level does not specify storage structures or the access methods (indexing,
hashing etc.) used to retrieve the data from the physical storage medium.
The Logical data independence is difficult to achieve than physical data
independence as it requires the flexibility in the design of database and
programmer has to foresee the future requirements or modifications in
the design.
The Procedure for Database Access
 A user’s request for data is received by the data manager, which
determines the physical record required. The decision as to which
physical record is needed may require some preliminary consultation of
the database and/or the data dictionary prior to the access of the actual
data itself.
 
The data manager sends the request for a specific physical record to the
file manager. The file manager decides which physical block of
secondary storage devices contains the required record and sends the
request for the appropriate block to the disk manager. A block is a unit of
physical input/output operations between primary and secondary storage.
The disk manager retrieves the block and sends it to the file manager,
which sends the required record to the data manager.
 Functions of Data Base
Administrator
• Makes decisions concerning the content of the database: It is the
DBA’s job to decide exactly what information is to be held in the database
—in other words, to identify the entities of interest to the enterprise and to
identify the information to be recorded about those entities.
• Plans storage structures and access strategies: The DBA must also
decide how the data is to be represented in the database, and must specify
the representation by writing the storage structure definition (using the
internal data definition language). In addition, the associated mapping
between the storage structure definition and the conceptual schema must
also be specified.
• Provides support to users: It is the responsibility of the DBA to provide
support to the users, to ensure that the data they require is available, and
to write the necessary external schemas (using the appropriate external
data definition language). In addition, the mapping between any given
external schema and the conceptual schema must also be specified.
 Functions of Data Base
Administrator
• Defines security and integrity checks: DBA is responsible for
providing the authorization and authentication checks such that no
malicious users can access database and it must remain protected.
DBA must also ensure the integrity of the database.
• Interprets backup and recovery strategies: In the event of damage
to any portion of the database-caused by human error, say, or a failure
in the hardware or supporting operating system—it is essential to be
able to repair the data concerned with a minimum of delay and with as
little effect as possible on the rest of the system. The DBA must define
and implement an appropriate recovery strategy to recover the
database from all types of failures.
• Monitoring performance and responding to changes in
requirements: The DBA is responsible for so organizing the system
as to get the performance that is “best for the enterprise,” and for
making the appropriate adjustments as requirements change.
 Metadata or Data Dictionary

• A metadata (also called the data dictionary) is the data about the data.
It is the self-describing nature of the database that provides program-
data independence. It is also called as the System Catalog. It holds the
following information about each data element in the databases, it
normally includes:
• Name
• Type
• Range of values
• Source
• Access authorization
• Indicates which application programs use the data so that when a
change in a data structure is contemplated, a list of the affected
programs can be generated.
 Active and Passive Data
Dictionaries
• Data dictionary may be either active or passive. An active data
dictionary (also called integrated data dictionary) is managed
automatically by the database management software. Since active data
dictionaries are maintained by the system itself, they are always
consistent with the current structure and definition of the database.
Most of the relational database management systems contain active
data dictionaries that can be derived from their system catalog.
• The passive data dictionary (also called non-integrated data
dictionary) is the one used only for documentation purposes. Passive
dictionary is simply a self-contained application. It is managed by the
users of the system and is modified whenever the structure of the
database is changed. Since this modification must be performed
manually by the user, it is possible that the data dictionary will not be
current with the current structure of the database.
 Components of a DBMS

• Query processor: The query processor

transforms user queries into a series of low-level
instructions. It is used to interpret the online
user’s query and convert it into an efficient
series of operations in a form capable of being
sent to the run time data manager for execution.
The query processor uses the data dictionary to
find the structure of the relevant portion of the
database and uses this information in modifying
the query and preparing and optimal plan to
access the database.
• Run time database manager:
Run time database manager is
the central software component
of the DBMS, which interfaces
with user-submitted application
programs and queries. It
handles database access at run
time. It converts operations in
user’s queries coming directly
via the query processor or
indirectly via an application
program from the user’s logical
view to a physical file system.
It accepts queries and examines
the external and conceptual
schemas to determine what
conceptual records are required
to satisfy the users request.
• Run time database manager: It
enforces constraints to maintain the
consistency and integrity of the
data, as well as its security. It also
performs backing and recovery
operations. Run time database
manager is sometimes referred to as
the database control system and has
the following components:
– Authorization control: The
authorization control module
checks the authorization of users in
terms of various privileges to
users..
– Command processor: The
command processor processes the
queries passed by authorization
control module.
– Integrity checker: It checks
the integrity constraints so that
only valid data can be entered
into the database.
– Query optimizer: The query
optimizers determine an
optimal strategy for the query
execution.
– Transaction manager: The
transaction manager ensures
that the transaction properties
should be maintained by the
system.
– Scheduler: It provides an
environment in which multiple
users can work on same piece
of data at the same time in
other words it supports
concurrency.
• Data manager: The data
manager is responsible for
the actual handling of data in
the database. It provides
recovery to the system which
that system should be able to
recover the data after some
failure. It includes Recovery
manager and Buffer manager.
The buffer manager is
responsible for the transfer of
data between the main
memory and secondary
storage (such as disk or tape).
It is also referred as the cache
manger.
 References
Simplified Approach To DBMS
By
Parteek Bhatia
Kalyani Publishers