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IMS1907 Tutorial 13, Summer Semester, 2004/5
Monash University
School of Information Management and Systems
IMS1907 Database Systems
Summer Semester 2004/5
Tutorial 13
Database Systems Performance Issues, Information Resource Management
Unit Review
Tutorial Objectives:

to develop an understanding of the issues affecting the performance of
database systems

to develop an awareness of some of the techniques by which database system
performance can be tuned to an optimal level

to develop an understanding of the nature of information resource
management

to develop an awareness of the roles of the data administrator and database
administrator and their importance to the development and operation of
database systems

to review topics covered this semester and discuss approaches to studying and
exams
Tutorial Resources:

Tutorial 13 handout – Database Systems Performance Issues, Information
Resource Management, Unit Review

IMS1907 Lectures 12 - Database Systems Performance Issues

IMS1907 Lectures 13 – Information Resource Management, Unit Review
Tutorial Task:
Answer the following questions about database systems performance.
1. What are the factors we need to consider when assessing database performance?
2. List the five critical decision areas that need to be considered when performing
physical database design.
3. Data volume analysis and usage analysis are two important techniques for
assessing database workloads. What factors are considered when conducting these
types of analyses.
4. What are the issues affecting choice of data types in physical database design?
5. What is a physical record?
6. What are the two goals of designing physical records?
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IMS1907 Tutorial 13, Summer Semester, 2004/5
7. What is meant by the term ‘page size’?
8. What is meant by the term ‘blocking factor’?
9. What is meant by denormalisation?
10. Why would we choose to denormalise?
11. What are some of the disadvantages of normalisation?
12. What are the issues associated with file organisation in physical database design?
13. Describe the three types of physical file organisation considered in the lectures.
14. What is meant by a ‘cluster’?
15. What is meant by an ‘index’?
16. What is meant by ‘RAID’?
17. Describe the techniques RAID uses to achieve I/O efficiencies.
18. Briefly describe the various RAID technologies available.
Consider the following questions related to the roles associated with information
resource management:
19. Why has information resource management become an important consideration
for organisations?
20. What are the three major roles involved in information resource management?
21. What are some of the problems related to ineffective data administration that lead
to poor data utilization in database systems?
22. What are some of the technologies and trends driving the evolution of the roles of
data administrator and database administrator?
23. Describe the role of the data administrator.
24. What skills does a data administrator require?
25. Describe the role of the database administrator.
26. What skills does a database administrator require?
27. What are some of the ways in which the role of the DBA is evolving?
Unit Review
The questions you have already encountered in the tutorial exercises are your best
revision guide. I have effectively asked everything you may be required to recall in an
exam in these exercises. Go over these questions and use them to polish your answers
and focus on the areas of which you are not quite as sure.
Use the topic outline below as an additional guide to the subject areas covered this
semester. Take the opportunity during this tutorial to clarify any issues you may have
relating to the topic areas.
- What are database systems?
–Database
–Data
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IMS1907 Tutorial 13, Summer Semester, 2004/5
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–Information
–Data vs Information
–Metadata
–DBMS
-DBMS vs file processing systems
Database system development and the SDLC
IE – a top down approach
Database systems planning
Database systems development
Enterprise data modelling
Conceptual data modelling
Logical database design
Physical database design
Database implementation
Database maintenance
Packaged data models
People in database development
Microsoft access
Relational concepts – table, record, field, keys, primary key, foreign key,
secondary key
Table structure
Forms
Reports
Queries
Database systems architecture
Nature of systems architecture
Database systems architecture
Views, schema
ANSI/SPARC three schema architecture
–external schema
•user views
–conceptual schema
•single, coherent definition of enterprise data
–internal schema
•physical storage structures
Data independence
Database systems network architecture – client-server
data modelling and ER modelling
nature and aims of data modelling
business rules
ER modelling
Entity, attribute, relationship
strong/weak entities
degree of a relationship
cardinality and cardinality constraints
time dependent data
types and sub types
quality of ER models
relational database theory
detailed data modelling
relational model
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IMS1907 Tutorial 13, Summer Semester, 2004/5
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properties of relations
integrity constraints
well-structured relations and anomalies
representing ER models as relations
normalisation
functional dependency, normal forms, merging relations, DSD
SQL
Evolution of SQL
Nature and aims of SQL
The SQL environment
–catalog
–schema
–data definition language (DDL)
–data manipulation language (DML)
–data control language (DCL)
SQL – DDL
commands, data types
Creating, altering, deleting databases and tables
SQL – DML
Populating tables
Viewing databases and tables
Retrieving data from tables
Aggregate operators
Pattern matching
Joining tables
Sub queries
Outer joins
Database systems performance issues
Database performance
Physical database design
Data types, record arrangements and structures, clusters, indexes
Denormalisation
Improving file access – RAID
Choosing database architecture
Hierarchical, network, relational, multidimensional, OO
Optimizing query performance
Information resource management
Information resource management as a discipline
Data administration
Database administration
Evolving role of the DA and DBA
This seems like a lot of information but it is fairly straightforward in the way and
order in which the topics are covered. Use this outline and the clues provided in the
lectures to guide your studies.
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