Assignment #1 Introduction to Technology

Prepared for:

Submitted To:
Mr. Jahanzeb Ismat
Submitted By:
Ans Salman

What is a database?
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A database is a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed,
managed, and updated. In one view, databases can be classified according to types of content:
bibliographic, full-text, numeric, and images.

History of DBMS

• Databases have been in use since the earliest days of electronic computing

• Originally DBMS(s) were found only in large organizations with the computer hardware
needed to support large data sets

1960’s

• In mid 1960s, there were number of database systems in use, but in very different form in
which currently they are

• They were based on "manual" navigation of a linked data set which was formed into a
large network

• Simple queries like "find all the people in India" required the program to walk the entire
data set and collect the matching results. There was, essentially, no concept of "find" or
"search"

1970s

• In this era, Relational Database models were first introduced

• The relational model solved linked-list systems by splitting the data into a series of
normalized tables, with optional elements being moved out of the main table to where
they would take up room only if needed

• The concept of key was first introduced, that represents the unique record in the database

• This concept was on papers only

• In 1979, first database management system was designed, on this theory

• This was the practical demonstration of the concepts on paper

1980s till now

• In this era, databases were now more accurate with the evolution of Object Oriented
concepts

• The data is now treated as object, instead of fields or records

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 • Reliability and database management speed was also improved

Databases
Following is the list of major and famous database software

1.Oracle Database
The Oracle Database (commonly referred to as Oracle RDBMS or simply as Oracle) is a
relational database management system (RDBMS) produced and marketed by Oracle
Corporation. As of 2009[update], Oracle remains a major presence in database computing.[2]

Larry Ellison and his friends and former co-workers Bob Miner and Ed Oates started the
consultancy Software Development Laboratories (SDL) in 1977. SDL developed the original
version of the Oracle software.

Physical and Logical Structures in Oracle

An Oracle database system—identified by an alphanumeric system identifier or—comprises at

least one instance of the application, along with data storage. An instance—identified
persistently by an instantiation number (or activation id:
SYS.V_$DATABASE.ACTIVATION#)—comprises a set of operating-system processes and
memory-structures that interact with the storage. Typical processes include PMON (the process
monitor) and SMON (the system monitor).

Users of the Oracle databases refer to the server-side memory-structure as the SGA (System
Global Area). The SGA typically holds cache information such as data-buffers, SQL commands,
and user information. In addition to storage, the database consists of online redo logs (or logs),
which hold transactional history. Processes can in turn archive the online redo logs into archive
logs (offline redo logs), which provide the basis (if necessary) for data recovery and for some
forms of data replication.

If the Oracle database administrator has implemented Oracle RAC (Real Application Clusters),
then multiple instances, usually on different servers, attach to a central storage array. This
scenario offers advantages such as better performance, scalability and redundancy. However,
support becomes more complex, and many sites do not use RAC. In version 10g, grid computing
introduced shared resources where an instance can use (for example) CPU resources from
another node (computer) in the grid.

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The Oracle DBMS can store and execute stored procedures and functions within itself. PL/SQL
(Oracle Corporation's proprietary procedural extension to SQL), or the object-oriented language
Java can invoke such code objects and/or provide the programming structures for writing them.

Storage

The Oracle RDBMS stores data logically in the form of tablespaces and physically in the form of
data files. Tablespaces can contain various types of memory segments, such as Data Segments,
Index Segments, etc. Segments in turn comprise one or more extents. Extents comprise groups of
contiguous data blocks. Data blocks form the basic units of data storage.

Oracle database management tracks its computer data storage with the help of information stored
in the SYSTEM tablespace. The SYSTEM tablespace contains the data dictionary—and often
(by default) indexes and clusters. A data dictionary consists of a special collection of tables that
contains information about all user-objects in the database. Since version 8i, the Oracle RDBMS
also supports "locally managed" tablespaces which can store space management information in
bitmaps in their own headers rather than in the SYSTEM tablespace (as happens with the default
"dictionary-managed" tablespaces).

2.Microsoft Office Access

previously known as Microsoft Access, is a pseudo-relational database management system from

Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user
interface and software-development tools. It is a member of the Microsoft Office suite of
applications, included in the Professional and higher editions or sold separately. In mid-May
2010, the current version Microsoft Office Access 2010 was released by Microsoft in Office
2010; Microsoft Access 2007 was the prior version. Access stores data in its own format based
on the Access Jet Database Engine

Split Database Architecture

Microsoft Access applications can adopt a split-database architecture. The database can be
divided into a front end database that contains the application objects (queries, forms, reports,
macros, and modules), and is linked to tables stored in a back end shared database containing the
data. The "back-end" database can be stored in a location shared by many users, such as a file
server. The 'front-end' database is distributed to each user's desktop and linked to the shared
database. Using this design, each user has a copy of Microsoft Access installed on their machine
along with their application database. This reduces network traffic since the application is not
retrieved for each use, and allows the front end database to contain tables with data that is private
to each user for storing settings or temporary data. This split database design also allows
development of the application independent of the data. When a new version is ready, the front
end database is replaced without impacting the data database. Microsoft Access has two built-in
utilities, Database Splitter and Linked Table Manager, to facilitate this architecture.

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3.SQL

SQL, short for Structured Query Language is pronounced Ess Queue el and is a simple non
procedural language that lets you store and retrieve data in a relational database. This is a quick
introduction to SQL.

Two Classes of SQL

SQL falls into two classes

1. Data Manipulation Language (DML) - SQL for retrieving and storing data.
2. Data Design Language (DDL) - SQL for creating, altering and dropping tables.

Evolution of DB

ISAM stands for Indexed Sequential Access Method, a method for indexing data for fast
retrieval. ISAM was originally developed by IBM for mainframe computers. Today the term is
used for several related concepts:

Specifically, the IBM ISAM product and the algorithm it employs.

A database system where an application developer directly uses an Application Programming

Interface to search indexes in order to locate records in data files. In contrast, a relational
database uses a query optimizer which automatically selects indexes.

An indexing algorithm that allows both sequential and keyed access to data. Most databases now
use some variation of the B-Tree for this purpose, although the original IBM ISAM and VSAM
implementations did not do so.

Most generally, any index for a database. Indexes are used by almost all databases, both
relational and otherwise.

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Relational database
• A relational database is a collection of data items organized as a set of formally-described
tables from which data can be accessed or reassembled in many different ways without
having to reorganize the database tables. The relational database was invented by E. F.
Codd at IBM in 1970.
• The standard user and application program interface to a relational database is the
structured query language (SQL). SQL statements are used both for interactive queries
for information from a relational database and for gathering data for reports.

OODB (Object Oriented Data Base)

When database capabilities are combined with object-oriented (OO) programming language
capabilities, the result is an object database management system (ODBMS).

Today’s trend in programming languages is to utilize objects, thereby making OODBMS ideal
for OO programmers because they can develop the product, store them as objects, and can
replicate or modify existing objects to make new objects within the OODBMS. Information
today includes not only data but video, audio, graphs, and photos which are considered complex
data types. Relational DBMS aren’t natively capable of supporting these complex data types, By
being integrated with the programming language, the programmer can maintain consistency
within one environment because both the OODBMS and the programming language will use the
same model of representation. Relational DBMS projects using complex data types would have
to be divided into two separate tasks: the database model and the application.

As the usage of web-based technology increases with the implementation of Intranets and
extranets, companies have a vested interest in OODBMS to display their complex data. Using a
DBMS that has been specifically designed to store data as objects gives an advantage to those
companies that are geared towards multimedia presentation or organizations that utilize
computer-aided design (CAD)

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Peachtree
Peachtree is an accounting application for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) made by
Sage Software. Peachtree enables comptrollers and managers to automate and manage numerous
accounting tasks, like:

* Reconciling accounts payable and receivable.

* Creating financial statements check invoices.
* Tracking banking transfers and payroll.
* Importing and manipulating spreadsheets.
* Integrating scanned documents like checks, receipts and invoices, eliminating paper from the
accounting process.

Sage Software's release of Peachtree Premium Accounting for Construction is customized

specifically for the needs of subcontractors, contractors and operations managers in the
construction industry. Small construction companies and individual contractors both use
construction industry-specific functions like job costing, fixed assets tracking, progress billing
and advanced budgeting to control costs, track expenses and organize billing. Peachtree also
makes industry specific versions for accountants, distributors, manufacturers and non-profit
organizations.

Peachtree minimum system requirements include at least a 1 GHz processor and 512 MB of
RAM for a single user installation of Peachtree. 1.8 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM is
recommended for multiple users. For optimal operation of either version on a given workstation,
Sage suggests 1 GB of of free disk space, Internet access, Internet Explorer 6.0 and at least
Windows 2000 SP3.