- Student Records
Programme & Unit Catalogues


LP20107: Advanced database topics

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2012/3
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department of Computer Science (administered by the Learning Partnerships Office)
Further information on credits Credits: 10
Further information on unit levels Level: Intermediate (FHEQ level 5)
Further information on teaching periods Period: Academic Year at City of Bath College
Academic Year at Weston College
Academic Year at Wiltshire College
Further information on unit assessment Assessment: CW 75%, EX 25%
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment: Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take AS10343
Further information on descriptions Description: Aims:

* To equip the student with the necessary knowledge and skills to
- Carry out database management tasks
- Administer large database systems
- Recommend appropriate strategies for implementing distributed databases
* To provide an overview of the interface between object oriented technologies and databases, and the related problems
* To provide a sound conceptual introduction to decision support and related topics.

Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the unit, learners should be able to:
* Create and administer databases using graphical managers and SQL DDL
* Outline the practical concerns which led to the development of distributed architectures and the problems associated with such architectures
* Describe and apply the concepts of fragmentation and replication
* Appreciate the differences between object-oriented and object-relational databases and outline O-R facilities of industry-standard DBMS packages
* Describe and use the methods and facilities associated with decision support systems
* Outline the techniques available for data warehousing and data mining.

Skills:
Practical skills - database management skills, DDL - taught and assessed
Personal skills - time management, personal organisation, working with others, independent research, problem solving - facilitated
Communication skills - written reports; facilitated and assessed.

Content:
Create and administer databases using graphical managers and SQL DDL
* Creation of databases, tables, columns, indexes and relationships; stored procedures; levels of security, granting and revoking of user privileges. Backup, recovery and tuning of databases.
Outline the practical concerns which led to the development of distributed architectures and the problems associated with such architectures
* Practical necessity for distributed data management. DDBMS models. Problems of consistency, security and integrity. Transaction management in the distributed environment. Top down and bottom up integration.
Describe and apply the concepts of fragmentation and replication
* Horizontal and vertical fragmentation. Degrees of replication. Application to given instances.
Appreciate the differences between object-oriented and object-relational databases and outline O-R facilities of industry-standard DBMS packages.
* Reprise of object oriented concepts. Persistent data. Methods, data types and inheritance in O-R databases. SQL O-R facilities.
Describe and use the methods and facilities associated with decision support systems
* Multidimensional data models. Cube, rollup and aggregation operations. Relational OLAP systems.
Outline the techniques available for data warehousing and data mining
* Definition of and characteristics of a data warehouse. Enterprise and virtual warehouses; data marts.
* Integration and extraction considerations. Data mining. Hypotheses. The knowledge discovery process. The A-priori algorithm.
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

LP20107 is Optional on the following programmes:

Programmes administered by the Learning Partnerships Office
  • USCM-DPF21 : FdSc Computing (Part-time at City of Bath College) - Year 3
  • USCM-LPF21 : FdSc Computing (Part-time at Weston College) - Year 3
  • USCM-WPF21 : FdSc Computing (Part-time at Wiltshire College) - Year 3

Notes:
* This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2012/13 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2013/14 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2012/13.
* Programmes and units are subject to change at any time, in accordance with normal University procedures.
* Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.