Basic Question on Advanced Database Systems

1.    What are server systems?

It is an operating system which is designed for servers, and their functionality. They are specially designed for client-server communication
Examples of server systems:
1. Windows Server 2008
2. Windows Server 2003
3. Red Hat Enterprise Linus(RHEL)

2. What are distributed systems?

A distributed system maintains multiple nodes which are at different locations but linked together using a network. Each of these is installed a smaller version of a server system which helps them in sharing data. Both client and server communicate using the Internet/Networks.

3. What are distributed databases in Database System architectures?

Distributed Database System architectures manage multiple, interconnected and interrelated database systems over a network. A DDBMS(Distributed Database Management System) is a software which manages the DDB and provides an access mechanism that makes his distribution transparent to the users.

4. What are homogeneous and heterogeneous database systems?

A homogeneous database system contains of following advantages:

1. They are easy to use

2. Easy to manage

3. Easy to design

The only disadvantage of homogeneous database systems is that they are difficult for most organizations to force such an environment.

A heterogeneous database system manages to :

1. Huge data can be stored in one global centre from a different data centre's.

2. Remote access can be done using global schema

3. Different DBMS can be used for each node. E.g. In Pune, we can use MySQL, in Mumbai we can use PostgreSQL and so on. Still, the data will be stored in only one node.

But, there is a catch!. The heterogeneous database systems are challenging to design and manage, They may occupy more time to develop than the homogeneous database systems.

5. What is distributed data storage?

In a computer network, we can store information on more than one node, often in duplicated form.

This is called distributed data storage.