UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2018/2019
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY/ BACHELOR OF BUSINESS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BIT3202A BBIT304 DISTRIBUTED DATABASES &ADVANCED DATABASE SYSTEMS
FULL TIME/PART TIME/DISTANCE LEARNING
DATE: APRIL, 2019 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE
a) Examine the main differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous DDBMS
2 Marks
b) Discuss the main approaches used to describe a reference model for DDBMS Architecture
6 Marks
c) Describe the common architectures for DDBMS 6 Marks
d) Examine the objectives of developing a distributed database system 8 Marks
e) Explain the rules used to check if fragmentation has been done correctly 8 Marks
QUESTION TWO
a) Explain the relationship between the following concepts 9 Marks
i) Distributed computing system
ii) distributed database
iii) distributed database management system
b) A distributed database management system (DDBMS) is applicable in a range of processes.
Discuss some of the critical areas that requires DDBMS 8 Marks
c) Using an example define the term transaction as used in a distributed database system 3 Marks
QUESTION THREE
a) Discuss the main benefits of using distributed database system in an organization 8 Marks
b) Distributed database system like any other system has complicating factors which makes many
organizations unable to implement it. Discuss these factors 6 Marks
c) Discuss the three step process that transforms a high-level query (of relational calculus/SQL) into
an equivalent and more efficient lower-level query (of relational algebra). 6 Marks
QUESTION FOUR
a) Discuss the three main functions of semantic data control 9 Marks
b) Using an example explain how a clerk can use query to find the names of employees who have
been working on project P1 for 12 or 24 months? 4 Marks
c) Using a suitable diagram discuss the various states a transaction goes through 7 Marks
QUESTION FIVE
a) Discuss the properties of transactions in a distributed system 8 Marks
b) Explain the term deadlock as used in distributed systems 2 Marks
c) Discuss the two ways used by the Local Recovery Management (LRM) to deal with update/write
operations 6 Marks
d) DDBMS like any other system can experience some failures. Explain some forms of failures that
are most likely to be encountered 4 Marks
