UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2017/2018
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY/ BACHELOR OF BUSINESS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BIT 3202 A/BBIT 304: DISTRIBUTED DATABASES/ADVANCED DATABASE SYSTEMS
FULL TIME/PART TIME/DISTANCE LEARNING
DATE: AUGUST 2018 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE
a) Describe the two technologies that have contributed to distributed database system
(6 Marks)
b) Expound on the components that make up a Distributed database system (8 Marks)
c) Highlight the main features of a Distributed database system (8 Marks)
d) Discuss the following principles relating to distributed database system
i) Local Autonomy (2 Marks)
ii) Fragmentation Independence (2 Marks)
iii) Replication Independence (2 Marks)
iv) Distributed Query Processing (2 Marks)
QUESTION TWO
a) Discuss the main objectives for designing and implementing the distributed database system
(6 Marks)
b) Discuss the factors considered in designing fragmentation and allocation of fragments to
different sites in a distributed system (10 Marks)
c) Discuss the general forces that drive the move to client/server systems (4 Marks)
QUESTION THREE
a) Describe the issues that are considered in a good transaction management scheme
(4 Marks)
b) Identify some of Concurrency Control Anomalies (6 Marks)
c) State some of failures that may occur in a centralized DBMS. (6 Marks)
d) Discuss four properties of that lead to the consistency and reliability of a database management
system. (4 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR
a) Discuss the different ways used in deadlock resolution in a distributed database system.
(6Marks)
b) List the steps to be followed for recovery if a distributed DBMS detects that a site failure has
occurred. (6Marks)
c) Identify some of the Objectives of Distributed Query Processing (8 Marks)
QUESTION FIVE
a) Differentiate between Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Distributed DBMSs (4 Marks)
b) State various Functions of Distributed DBMS (6 Marks)
c) Explain the dimension for the analysis of distributed systems (6 Marks)
d) List the implicit assumptions associated with distributed database management systems
(4 Marks)
