Reference no: EM133536883
Assignment:
Introduction to Database Systems
Database Management Systems (Continued)
There are different ways of organising databases as part of a wider information system. For example, databases may be distributed (where different information is stored at different locations), replicated (or mirrored) (where the same information is stored at different locations), federated (various independent databases work together to provide a wider set of information). However, for most purposes we use a client-server architecture.
In the client-server model, one (or more than one) particular computer (the database server) is responsible for running the DBMS. Often this server will have a high specification such as fast processing, lots of storage, fast network connexions, etc). The client refers to the other computers that access the database server over the network.
Client - Server Model
For example, if you check train times on a mobile application, the client is the app running on your smartphone, and the server is a database managed by the train company. A huge range of information systems are based on this client-server model.
For practical exercises on this module, we will mainly use two MariaDB database servers:
- The database server that supports the SQL Zoo website (the client). We use this indirectly, through the website.
- An Edinburgh Napier database server used for this module (with various different clients, such as an interactive shell, database GUI, Python programs, etc).
Question:
- Why would a company pay an expensive licence fee for a proprietary DBMS when many open-source systems match these in functionality and may be used free of cost?
- Would we expect an organisation (say a bank or a university) to store all its data in one database, or in many? What factors would affect this decision?