Chapter 22

Distributed DBMS
Concepts and Design

CS 157B
Edward Chen
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 Introduction
 Distributed Database changes the way of data
sharing, conceptually from centralization into
decentralization.
 Development of computer networks promotes a
decentralized mode of work.
 Development of distributed systems should improve
the sharing ability of the data and the efficiency of
data access
 Distributed systems should help resolve the "islands
of information" problem

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 Concepts
Distributed database
A logically interrelated collection of shared data
and description of this data, physically distribute
over a computer network.
Distributed DBMS
The software system that permits the management
of the distributed databases and makes the
distribution transparent to users.

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Concepts (cont’d)
 In a distributed DBMS , single logical database is
split into a number of fragments.
 Each fragment is stored on one or more computers
under the control of a separate DBMS
 with the computer connected to a network. Each site
is capable of independently processing user requests
that require access to local data and is also capable of
processing data stored on other computers in the
network.

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Concepts (cont’d)
 There are two applications
1) local application: do not require data from
other sites
2) global application: do require data from other
sites

 Distributed DBMS need to have at least one global

application.

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Concepts (cont’d)

DBMS have following characteristics:

 A collection of logically related shared data
 The data is split into number of fragments
 Fragments may be replicated
 Fragments/replicas are allocated to sites.
 The sites are linked with computer network.
 The data at each site is under the control of a DBMS
 The DBMS at each site can handle local applications
autonomously.
 Each DBMS participates in at least one global application.

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Distributed Database Management System

 It is not necessary for every site in

the system to have its own local
database as shown
 The system is expected to make
the distribution transparent to the
user
 Distributed database is split into
fragments that can be stored on
different computers and perhaps
replicated
 The objective of the transparency
is to make the distributed system
to appear like a centralized system

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Distributed Processing

The system consists of data that is physically distributed

across the network. If the data is centralized, even though
the users may be accessing the data over the network, it is
not considered as distributed DBMS, simply distributed
processing

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Advantages
 Reflects organizational structure
 Improved shareablility and local autonomy
 Improved availability
 Improved reliability
 Improved performance
 Modular growth
 Less danger on single-point failure

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Disadvantages
 Complexity
 Cost
 Security
 Integrity control more difficult
 Lack of standards
 Lack of experience
 Database design more complex
 Possible slow response
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Homogeneous and Heterogeneous DDBMSs
Homogeneous DDBMS
In homogeneous DDBMS, all sites use the
same DBMS product.
Much easier to design and manage.
This design provides incremental growth by
making additional new sites to DDBMS easy
Allows increased performance by exploiting
the parallel processing capability of multiple
sites.
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Homogeneous and Heterogeneous DDBMSs
(cont’d)

Heterogeneous DDBMSs
 In heterogeneous DDBMS, all sites may run different DBMS products,
which need not to be based on the same underlying data model and so the
system may be composed of RDBMS, ORDBMS and OODBMS products.
 In heterogeneous system, communication between different DBMS are
required for translations.
 In order to provide DBMS transparency, users must be able to make
requests in the language of the DBMS at their local site.
 Data from the other sites may have different hardware, different DBMS
products and combination of different hardware and DBMS products.
 The task for locating those data and performing any necessary
translation are the abilities of heterogeneous DDBMS.
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Components Architecture of
DDBMS
Component Architecture for a DDBMS
 Local DBMS (LDBMS) component - It has its own
local system catalog that stores information
about the data held at that site.
 Data communications (DC) component – is the
software that enables all sites to communicate with
each other.
 Global System Catalog (GSC) - The GSC holds
information specific to the distributed nature of the
system, such as the fragmentation and allocation
schemas.
 Distributed DBMS component - is the controlling
unit of the entire system. 13
Components Architecture of DBMS
(cont’d)

Fig. components of DDBMS

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 FRAGMENTATION
Why fragmentation?

· Usage: Applications work with views rather than entire

relations
· Efficiency: Data is stored close to where it is mostly
frequently used
· Parallelism: With fragments are the unit of distribution, a
transaction can be divided into several subqueries
that operate on fragments.
· Security : Data not required by local applications is not
restored, and consequently not available to
unauthorized users.
.Performance: The performance of global applications that
require data from several fragments located at
different sites may be slower.
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 FRAGMENTATION (cont’d)
Types of fragmentation
· Horizontal fragmentation : a subset of the tuples of a
relation, defined as sp(R), where p is a predicate
based on one or more attributes of there relation.
· Vertical fragmentation : a subset of the attributes of a
relation, denoted as Pa1, a2, .., an (R), where a1, a2,
.., an are attributes of the relation R.
· Mixed fragmentation : A horizontal fragment that is
subsequently vertically fragmented, or a vertical
fragment that is then horizontally fragmented.

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FRAGMENTATION (cont’d)
Selection S p(R) - defines a relation that
contains only those tuples of R that satisfy the
specified condition (predicate p). The same as
horizontal fragmentation.

Projection P a1, a2, .., an (R) - defines a

relation that contains a vertical subset of R,
extracting the values of specified attributes and
eliminating duplicates. The same as vertical
fragmentation.

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 Summary
 A distributed database is a collection of multiple,
logically interrelated collection of shared data which
is physically distributed over a computer network.

 Basically, a DDBMS is different from a client-server

system, even though the client-server architecture can
be used to provide distributed DBMSs.

 Both Top-down and Bottom-up design approaches

can be used to design DDBMS.
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 Summary (cont’d)
 A relation may be divided into a number of sub
relations called fragments, which may be horizontal,
vertical, mixed.

 The three correctness rules of fragmentation are:

completeness, reconstruction, and disjoitness.

 There are four allocation strategies regarding the

placement of data: centralized, partitioned, complete
replication and selected replication.
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The End

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