MIRPUR UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (MUST), MIRPUR

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

 DATABASE SYSTEMS
MCS-115

Lecture 07 : Roles of Database Environment

Farzana Riaz
(Lecturer)

Date: ___________
 Lecture Contents

• Roles of Database Environment

• Understand the roles of following Entities:

1. Data and database administrators

2. Database designers

3. Application developers

4. The end-users.

MCS-115 Database Systems

 Lecture Objectives

This lecture is designed:

• To know about the roles of database environment

• To understand the roles of following entities:

1. Data and database administrators

2. Database designers

3. Application developers

4. The end-users.

MCS-115 Database Systems

 Roles of Database Environment

• Following are the four roles of database environment:

1. Data and database administrators

2. Database designers

3. Application developers

4. The end-users.

MCS-115 Database Systems

 1. Data and Database Administrators

o The roles generally associated with the management and control of a DBMS and its data are
listed below:

o The DataAdministrator (DA)

o The DatabaseAdministrators ( DBA)

MCS-115 Database Systems

 1. Data and Database Administrators

• The Data Administrator (DA) is responsible for the management of the data resource including
the following:

o Database planning

o Development and maintenance of standards

o Policies and procedures

o Conceptual/logical database design

• The DA consults with and advises senior managers, ensuring that the direction of database
development will ultimately support corporate objectives.

MCS-115 Database Systems

 1. Data and Database Administrators

• The Database Administrator (DBA) is responsible for the physical realization of the database including
the following:

o Physical database design and implementation

o Security and integrity control

o Maintenance of the operational system

o Ensuring satisfactory performance of the applications for users

• The role of the DBA is more technically oriented than the role of the DA, requiring detailed knowledge of
the target DBMS and the system environment.

MCS-115 Database Systems

 2. Database Designers

• In large database design projects, we can distinguish between two types of designer:

o Logical database designers

o Physical database designers

• Logical database designers is concerned with the following:

• Identifying the data (that is, the entities and attributes)

• The relationships between the data

• The constraints on the data that is to be stored in the database

MCS-115 Database Systems

 2. Database Designers

• The work of the logical database designer into two stages:

1. Conceptual database design, which is independent of implementation details such as:

• The target DBMS
• Application programs
• Programming languages
• Or any other physical considerations

2. Logical database design, which targets a specific data model, such as:
• Relational
• Network
• Hierarchical
• Object-oriented

MCS-115 Database Systems

 2. Database Designers

• The Physical database designers decides how the logical database design is to be physically
realized. This involves:

o Mapping the logical database design into a set of tables and integrity constraints

o Selecting specific storage structures and access methods for the data to achieve good performance

o Designing any security measures required on the data

MCS-115 Database Systems

 3. Applications Developers

• Once the database has been implemented the responsibility of the Application developers is to provide the
application programs with required functionality for the end-users must be implemented.

• The application developers work from a specification produced by systems analysts.

• Each program contains statements that request the database system to perform some operation on the database.
This includes:

o Retrieving data

o Inserting

o Updating

o Deleting data.

MCS-115 Database Systems

 4. End-Users

• The end-users are the ‘clients’ for the database, which has been designed and implemented,
and is being maintained to serve their information needs.

• End-users can be classified according to the way they use the system:

o Natve users

o Sophisticated users

MCS-115 Database Systems

 4. End-Users

• Native users are typically unaware of the DBMS.

• They access the database through specially written application programs that attempt to make the
operations as simple as possible.

• They invoke database operations by entering simple commands or choosing options from a menu.

• This means that they do not need to know anything about the database or the DBMS.

MCS-115 Database Systems

 4. End-Users

• Sophisticated users are familiar with the structure of the database and the facilities offered by the DBMS.

• Sophisticated end-users may use a high-level query language such as SQL to perform the required operations.

• Some sophisticated end-users may even write application programs for their own use.

MCS-115 Database Systems

 Reference

• Database Systems A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation, and Management, 4th

Edition, Thomas Connolly, Carolyn Begg, Addison Wesley.

• Fundamentals of Database Systems by R. Elmasri and S. Navathe. 6th Edition, Addison-Wesley

MCS-115 Database Systems

THANKS