What is data redundancy and inconsistency?

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What is the difference between data redundancy and data inconsistency? Redundancy is data that is not needed or no longer needed. Inconsistency is where you have different data for what should be the same thing, as a result of one piece of data having a few copies and...

Redundancy is data that is not needed or no longer needed. Inconsistency is where you have different data for what should be the same thing, as a result of one piece of data having a few copies and not all of them being updated. So if someone's address is on a system several times, and then their address changes, but it is only updated in some of those places, then the person will have both their old and new address on the system. The data is not consistent then. To avoid this data should be only stored once and everyone that needs it looks at the one set, rather than each having their own copy.

What is data redundancy? Storing the information several time leads to waste of storage space is called data redundacy. What are the disadvantages of data redundancy? with data redundancy there willbe more wastage of memory space as same type of data willbe saved many timeswhen to want to see the data all duplicate results will come What are the problems in data redundancy? 1. Wasted Storage Space. 2. More difficult Database Updates. 3. A Possibility of Inconsistent data. Note: A solution to the problem is to place the redundant data in a separate table, one in which... What are least three conditions that contribute to data redundancy and inconsistency? program data dependence - when changes in program requires changes to data access by program poor security - lack of security of most of the data make it hard of management to control who is... Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_data_redundan cy_and_inconsistency#ixzz1kfMen4YG

Database Management Systems

1. A database management system (DBMS), or simply a database system (DBS), consists of o A collection of interrelated and persistent data (usually referred to as the database (DB)). o A set of application programs used to access, update and manage that data (which form the data management system (MS)). 2. The goal of a DBMS is to provide an environment that is both convenient and efficient to use in o Retrieving information from the database. o Storing information into the database. 3. Databases are usually designed to manage large bodies of information. This involves o Definition of structures for information storage (data modeling). o Provision of mechanisms for the manipulation of information (file and systems structure, query processing). o Providing for the safety of information in the database (crash recovery and security). o Concurrency control if the system is shared by users.

Purpose of Database Systems

1. To see why database management systems are necessary, let's look at a typical ``fileprocessing system'' supported by a conventional operating system. The application is a savings bank: Savings account and customer records are kept in permanent system files. Application programs are written to manipulate files to perform the following tasks: Debit or credit an account. Add a new account. Find an account balance. Generate monthly statements. 2. Development of the system proceeds as follows: o New application programs must be written as the need arises. o New permanent files are created as required. o but over a long period of time files may be in different formats, and o Application programs may be in different languages. 3. So we can see there are problems with the straight file-processing approach: o Data redundancy and inconsistency Same information may be duplicated in several places. All copies may not be updated properly. o Difficulty in accessing data May have to write a new application program to satisfy an unusual request. E.g. find all customers with the same postal code. Could generate this data manually, but a long job... o Data isolation Data in different files. Data in different formats. Difficult to write new application programs. o Multiple users Want concurrency for faster response time. Need protection for concurrent updates. E.g. two customers withdrawing funds from the same account at the same time - account has $500 in it, and they withdraw $100 and $50. The result could be $350, $400 or $450 if no protection. o Security problems Every user of the system should be able to access only the data they are permitted to see. E.g. payroll people only handle employee records, and cannot see customer accounts; tellers only access account data and cannot see payroll data. Difficult to enforce this with application programs. o Integrity problems Data may be required to satisfy constraints.
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E.g. no account balance below $25.00. Again, difficult to enforce or to change constraints with the fileprocessing approach.

These problems and others led to the development of database management systems.