DATABASE SYSTEMS IT553

25.Nov.2014

Examine the documentation sets of Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and IBMs DB2 system to identify their support for the
following:
(a) clientserver architecture
(b) Web services
(c) service-oriented architecture

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server is designed to work effectively in a number of environments:

As a two-tier or multitier client/server database system

As a desktop database system
In a two-tier client/server system, users run an application on their local computer, known as a client, which
connects over a network to the server running SQL Server. The client application runs both business logic and
the code to display output to the user, and is also known as a thick client.
SQL Server 2008 enables data to be consumed from custom applications developed using Microsoft .NET and
Visual Studio and from within service-oriented architectures (SOA) and business processes through Microsoft
BizTalk Server.
Web services extend the World Wide Web infrastructure to provide the means for software to connect to other
software applications. Applications access Web services via ubiquitous Web protocols and data formats such as
HTTP, XML, and SOAP, with no need to worry about how each Web service is implemented. Web services
combine the best aspects of component-based development and the Web, and are a cornerstone of the
Microsoft .NET programming model.
Microsoft System Center plays a central role in Microsoft's vision to help IT organizations benefit from selfmanaging, dynamic systems. System Center solutions are tuned to simplify management of the systems and
applications your company already has implemented, including Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange
Server, Microsoft Biztalk Server, Internet Information Services and the Microsoft .NET Framework.
Oracle
In the Oracle database system environment, the database application and the database are separated into two
parts: a front-end or client portion, and a back-end or server portion--hence the term client/server architecture.
The client runs the database application that accesses database information and interacts with a user through the
keyboard, screen, and pointing device, such as a mouse. The server runs the Oracle software and handles the
functions required for concurrent, shared data access to an Oracle database.
Although the client application and Oracle can be run on the same computer, greater efficiency can often be
achieved when the client portions and server portion are run by different computers connected through a
network. The following sections discuss possible variations in the Oracle client/server architecture.
Most organizations implement service-oriented architecture (SOA) with the hope of gaining more business
agility through reuse of shared services. As reuse begins to take hold within the organization, however, it
becomes critical to manage consumption of services or your SOA can quickly spin out of control. Oracle Web
Services Manager provides a solution for governing the interactions with shared services through security and
operational policy management and enforcement to ensure service reuse remains under control.
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Leading companies are gaining operational efficiencies and business agility through adaptable, re-usable
business processes and services built on a truly flexible Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) foundation. Oracle
SOA products allow you to build, deploy, and manage SOA with integrated, best-in-class technology that
provides:

Comprehensive and Pre-Integrated SOA PlatformComplete set of service and process

infrastructure components for building, deploying, and managing SOAs
Closed-Loop GovernanceComprehensive, end-to-end lifecycle governance of services
Extreme performance and scalabilityIn-memory transactions, real-time event processing, and
high-volume data transfer on top of a highly scalable application server
Integrated SecurityCentralized policy management, enterprise-grade, end-to-end security
Oracle SOA Suite, which now includes the former BEA AquaLogic Service Bus, is Oracle Fusion Middleware's
strategic product for SOA. Oracle plans to continue to develop and support Oracle WebLogic Integration, and
expects to converge this product with Oracle's strategic solutions over time. Existing deployments of this product
will benefit from complementary products such as Oracle SOA Suite.
DB2
Local and remote application processes can work with the same database. A remote application is one that
initiates a database action from a machine that is remote from the database machine. Local applications are
directly attached to the database at the server machine.
Web service providers are described by Web Services Description Language (WSDL) documents. You can use
the Web services wrapper to access Web service providers.
A Web services client application can obtain access to a DB2 Version 9 database with a Web services
description language (WSDL) interface. You can create a WSDL interface to DB2 Version 9 data by using the
Web services Object Runtime Framework (WORF), also known as Document Access Definition Extension
(DADX) files. After you define the operations to access DB2 data with the DADX file, then you deploy the
DADX file and its runtime environment (IBM Web Service SOAP provider or Apache Axis version 1.2) to a
supported Java Web application server environment (Apache Jakarta Tomcat or IBM WebSphere
Application Server). After you have the DB2 Web service tested and deployed, any Web services client can start
using the DB2 Web service.
Web services consumer - the user-defined functions
When DB2 Version 9 becomes the consumer, Web services can take advantage of the optimization that is built
within the database. By using SQL statements, you can consume and integrate Web services data. By using SQL
to access Web services data, you can reduce some application programming efforts because the data can be
manipulated within the context of an SQL statement before that data is returned to the client application. You can
convert an existing WSDL interface into a DB2 table or scalar function by using tools that are provided in
WebSphere Studio version 5 and later. During the execution of an SQL statement, you establish a connection
with the Web service provider, and then you receive a response document as a relational table or a scalar value.
Web service providers are described by Web Services Description Language (WSDL) documents. You can use
the Web services wrapper to access Web service providers. Figure 1 shows the architecture of Web services.

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1 A Web service provider implements a service and publishes the WSDL information to a service
broker, such as UDDI.
2 The service consumer can then use the service broker to find a Web service provider.
3 When the service consumer finds a Web service provider, the service consumer binds to the service
provider so that the consumer can use the Web service.
4 The consumer invokes the service by exchanging SOAP (simple object access protocol) messages
between the requester and provider.

Figure 1. Web services: a service-oriented architecture

The SOAP specification defines the layout of an XML-based message. A SOAP message is contained in a SOAP
envelope. The envelope consists of an optional SOAP header and a mandatory SOAP body. The SOAP header
can contain information about the message, such as encryption information or authentication information. The
SOAP body contains the message. The SOAP specification also defines a default encoding for programming
language bindings, which is called the SOAP encoding.

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DATABASE SYSTEMS IT553

25.Nov.2014
1aConstruct an E-R diagram for a car insurance company with the following business rules & requirements;
R1. Only people with a valid driving license is accepted as a customer.
R2. Customers may own one or more cars.
R3. Customers are required to provide an address.
R4. The car model and year are required for insurance.
R5. It is possible that there is no accident associated with a car, however each car may well be associated with
any number of recorded accidents.
R6. Only accidents with a report issued by police department are recorded in the system.
R7. Refund service of the company request reports on accidents by location or date.
R8. Damage amount of the accident is generally available only after the police report is issued.

1bConstruct an E-R diagram for a hotel booking system with the following business rules & requirements;
R1.This booking system must support several hotels within several cities.
R2. Every room has a type. There are several types of rooms available and the pricing of the rooms depend on
the room type. The same room type is not necessarily priced the same by every hotel.
R3. Booking is done for a room for the duration given by the check-in and check-out dates.
R4. Every booking is done for a particular guest.
R5. Guests are required to provide full name as well as an address.

2a- Identify the Primary Keys for 1a and 1b

2b - Identify the foreign keys for the schemas. Explain how the entity and referential integrity rules apply to
these relations.
3- Produce some sample tables for these relations that observe the relational integrity rules. Suggest some
general constraints that would be appropriate for this schema.

2- What is a data model? Discuss the main types of data models

3- Describe the five components of the DBMS environment and discuss how they relate to each other.
4a- Discuss each of the following terms:
Data
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Database
Database Management System

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(DBMS)

Database Application Program

Data Independence
Security
Integrity
4b- Discuss each of the following concepts in the context of the relational data model:
(a)

Relation

(b)

Attribute

(c)

Domain

(d)

Tuple

(e)

Degree

(f)

Cardinality

6- Define the term "database integrity". How does database integrity differ from database security?
7- Compare and contrast the two-tier client-server architecture for traditional DBMSs with the three-tier clientserver architecture. Why is the latter architecture more appropriate for the Web?
8- Describe the main purpose(s) and activities associated with each stage of the database system development
lifecycle.
9- Compare and contrast the three phases of database design.
10- What is the difference between the prototyping approach and the database systems development lifecycle?
11- Assume you have been contracted to develop a database system for a university library. You are required to
use a systems development lifecycle approach. Discuss how you are going to approach the project. Describe user
groups that will be involved during the requirement analysis. What are the key issues that need to be answered
during fact finding?
12- Assume that you are an employee of a consultancy company that specializes in the analysis, design, and
implementation of database systems. A client has recently approached your company with a view to
implementing a database system but they are not familiar with the development process. You have been assigned
the task to present an overview of the Database System Development Lifecycle (DSDL) to them, identifying the
main stages of this lifecycle. With this task in mind, create a slide presentation and/or short report for the client.
(The client for this exercise can be any one of the fictitious case studies given in the text books or some real
company identified by you).
13- Why is ER model regarded as a top-down approach? Describe the four basic components of the ER model.
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14a- Create an ER diagram for each of the following descriptions:

25.Nov.2014

(a)

Each company operates four departments, and each department belongs to one company. (Note
when the exact cardinality is known (in this example, 4) a value can replace the multiplicity
range.

(b)

Each department in part (a) employs one or more employees, and each employee works for one
department.

(c)
Each of the employees in part (b) may or may not have one or more dependants, and each
dependant belongs to one employee.
(d)

Each employee in part (c) may or may not have an employment history.

(e)

Represent all the ER diagrams described in (a), (b), (c), and (d) as a single ER diagram.

15- Assume you have been contracted by a university to develop a database system to keep track of student
registration and accommodation records. The university courses are offered by faculties. Depending on the
students will and dedication, there are no limitations to how many courses a student can enroll in. The faculties
are not responsible for student accommodation. The university owns a number of hostels and each student is
given a shared room key after enrollment. Each room has furniture attached to it.
a) Identify the main entity types for the project.
b) Identify the main relationship types and specify the multiplicity for each relationship. State any
assumptions that you make about the data.
c) Using your answers for (a) and (b), draw a single ER diagram to represent the data
16- Read the following case study, which describes the data requirements for a DVD rental company. The DVD
rental company has several branches throughout the USA. The data held on each branch is the branch
address made up of street, city, state, and zip code, and the telephone number. Each branch is given a
branch number, which is unique throughout the company. Each branch is allocated staff, which includes
a Manager. The Manager is responsible for the day-to-day running of a given branch. The data held on
a member of staff is his or her name, position, and salary. Each member of staff is given a staff number,
which is unique throughout the company. Each branch has a stock of DVDs. The data held on a DVD is
the catalog number, DVD number, title, category, daily rental, cost, status, and the names of the main
actors, and the director. The catalog number uniquely identifies each DVD. However, in most cases,
there are several copies of each DVD at a branch, and the individual copies are identified using the
DVD number. A DVD is given a category such as Action, Adult, Children, Drama, Horror, or Sci-Fi.
The status indicates whether a specific copy of a DVD is available for rent. Before hiring a DVD from
the company, a customer must first register as a member of a local branch. The data held on a member
is the first and last name, address, and the date that the member registered at a branch. Each member is
given a member number, which is unique throughout all branches of the company. Once registered, a
member is free to rent DVDs, up to maximum of ten at any one time. The data held on each DVD rented
is the rental number, the full name and number of the member, the DVD number, title, and daily rental,
and the dates the DVD is rented out and date returned. The rental number is unique throughout the
company.

Identify the main entity types of the DVD rental company.

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b
Identify the main relationship types between the entity types described in (a) and represent each
relationship as an ER diagram.
c
Determine the multiplicity constraints for each relationship described in (b). Represent the
multiplicity for each relationship in the ER diagrams created in (b).
d
Identify attributes and associate them with entity or relationship types. Represent each attribute
in the ER diagrams created in (c).
e
Determine candidate and primary key attributes for each (strong) entity type.
f
Using your answers (a) to (e) attempt to represent the data requirements of the DVD rental
company as a single ER diagram. State any assumptions necessary to support your design.
17- Create an ER model for each of the following descriptions:
(a) A large organization has several parking lots, which are used by staff.
(b) Each parking lot has a unique name, location, capacity, and number of floors (where appropriate).
(c) Each parking lot has parking spaces, which are uniquely identified using a space number.
(d) Members of staff can request the sole use of a single parking space. Each member of staff has a
unique number, name,telephone extension number, and vehicle license number.
(e) Represent all the ER models described in parts (a), (b), (c), and (d) as a single ER model. Provide
any assumptions necessary to support your model.

18- Create an ER model to represent the data use by the library.

The library provides books to borrowers. Each book is described by title, edition and year of publication
and is uniquely identified using the ISBN. Each borrower is described by his or her name and address and is
uniquely identified using a borrower number. The library provides one or more copies of each book and each
copy is uniquely identified using a copy number, status indicating if the book is available for loan and the
allowable loan period for a given copy. A borrower may loan one or many books and the date each book is
loaned out and is returned is recorded. Loan number uniquely identifies each book loan.
19- Describe the main objective of conceptual database design. What is the purpose of conceptual database
design? How is it utilized while designing a database?

20- Discuss the differences between the candidate keys and the primary key of a relation. Explain what is meant by a
foreign key. How do foreign keys of relations relate to candidate keys? Give examples to illustrate your answer.

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