Nt1310 Unit 3 Schema Essay

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2.4 - Describe the three-schema architecture. Why do we need mappings between schema levels? How do different schema definition languages support this architecture?
Answer:

DBMS defines three – schema architecture which is shown below:

Internal schema at the internal level to describe physical storage structures and access paths, typically uses a physical data model.
Conceptual schema at the conceptual level describes the structure and constraints for the whole database for a community of users. These 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.
The goal of the three-schema architecture is to separate …show more content…

interaction with the file manager.
No DBMS can do without this. If there is no file manager interaction then nothing stored in the files can be retrieved.
b. integrity enforcement.
Consistency constraints may not be satisfied, for example an instructor may belong to a non- existent department, two students may have the same ID, account balances could go below the minimum allowed, and so on.
c. security enforcement.
Unauthorized users may access the database, or users authorized to access part of the database may be able to access parts of the database for which they lack authority. For example, a low-level user could get access to national defense secret codes, or employees could find out what their supervisors earn (which is presumably a secret).
d. backup and recovery.
Data could be lost permanently, rather than at least being available in a consistent state that existed prior to a failure.
e. concurrency control.
Consistency constraints may be violated despite proper integrity enforcement in each transaction. For example, incorrect bank balances might be reflected due to simultaneous withdrawals and deposits on the same account, and so

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