Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
Study Cycle: Master
SUBJECT

Code	Subject	
MIH1004	Distributed Databases	

Section	Sem.	Hours: C+S+L	Category	Type	
Databases	2	2+1+0	speciality	compulsory	

Teaching Staff in Charge	Lect. DARABANT Sergiu, Ph.D., dadi@cs.ubbcluj.ro	
Aims	The course starts from the base notions about traditional databases and gradually introduces the concept on distributed databases. The main goals of this discipline are to:
-	familiarize the students with the particular aspects of distributed databases, compared to traditional databases (design, query evaluation, transaction management, etc).
-	introduce the major issues and reasons in favor of distributed databases on real world scenarios.
-	Present the main topics and research directions in the distributed database area.
-	Help students understand the practical issues and facilities of a distributed database system by implementing a trimmed down distributed database engine.
	
Content	Lect 1
   Introduction in distributed database problems. General description. Problem formulation.

Lect 2
   DDBMS Architecture
   Databases systems with distributed features.
   Short historical introduction

Lect 3
   DDBMS design.
   Top-down and Bottom-up design.
   Horizontal, vertical and mixed fragmentation.
   Design and data allocations algorithms based on knowledge about the system.

Lect 4
   Clustering algorithm and their applications to DDBMS design.
    Numerical data modeling.
    Similarity measures. DDBMS design using clustering algorithms: k-means, hierarchical clustering, fuzzy clustering.

Lect 5
    Qualitative fragmentation evaluation. Comparative study.
    Fragmentation ordering influence on the fragments quality.
    Finding the optimal fragmentation ordering.

Lect 6
     Query processing.
      Objectives
      Query processing levels.

Lect 7
       Query decomposition
       Data localization
       
Lect 8
       Distributed query optimization
       Necessary information for distributed query optimization.
       Algorithms
       
Lect 9
       Distributed transaction management.
       Transaction properties.
       Transaction types

Lect 10
       Concurrency control.
       Timestamp based techniques.
       Optimistic concurrency control methods

Lect 11
       Data replication
       Replication mechanisms in DDBMS
       Handling inconsistent data
 
Lect 12
       DDBMS data security 
       Problem formulation and mechanisms for evaluating data security in a DDBMS
       Management of site and node failures in a DDBMS

Lect 13
       Distributed OO databases
       Operating system support for DDBMS implementation
       
Lect 14
       Current trends in DDBMS research
       Parallel database servers
      	
Bibliography	1.	Tamer, Oszu M., Patrick Valduriez. Principles of Distributed Database Systems, Prentice-Hall, 1998.
2.	Adrian Sergiu DARABANT, Specificare si modelare obiectuala în baze de date distribuite, Teza de doctorat, Biblioteca Universitatii Babes Bolyai, Cluj Napoca, 2004
3.	Ceri, S., G. Pelagatti, Distributed Databases: Principles and Systems. Ed McGraw-Hill, 1984.
4.	Gardarin G., P. Valduriez, Relational Databases and Knowledge Bases. Readings MA: Addison Wesley, 1989. 
5.	Bertino, E., L. Martino, Object-Oriented Database Systems; Concepts and Architectures. Addison Wesley, 1993. 
6.	Bochmann, G. von, Concepts for Distributed Systems Design, Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1983.
7.	Bernstain, P, Hadzilacos, V., Goodman, N., Concurrency Control and Recovery in Database Systems, Addison Wesley, 1987.
8.	Ramakrishnan, R. Gehrke, J., Database Management Systems, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill Publishing, 2001.
9.	Piattini, M., Diaz, O., Advanced Database Technology and Design, ArtechHouse Publishing, 2000. 
10.	Abiteboul, S., Hull, R., Vianu, V., Foundations of databases, Addison Wesley, 1995.	
Assessment	Course activity ends with a written exam. Over the semester, students will present a technical report and implement a semester project illustrating the principal features and usage for some of the techniques of a distributed database system.
Final grade:
	25% written test
	40% technical report and presentation
	35% implementation of a trimmed down DDBMS

Students that prove research aptitudes by submitting and being accepted with a research paper in a journal or conference will get and additional 20% to the final grade. The minimal total grade to pass is 5.