英文原文2:《DBA Survivor: Become a Rock Star DBA》by Thomas LaRock，Published By Apress.2010You know that a database is a collection of logically related data elements that may be structured in various ways lo meet the multiple processing and retrieval needs of organizations and individuals. There’s nothing new about databases—early ones were chiseled in stone, penned on scrolls, and written on index cards. But now databases are commonly recorded on magnetizable media, and computer programs are required to perform the necessary storage and retrieval operations.Yo u’ll see in the following pages that complex data relationships and linkages may be found in all but the simplest databases. The system software package that handles the difficult tasks associated with creating, accessing, and maintaining database records is called a database management system (DBMS) .The programs in a DBMS package establish an interface between the database itself and the users of the database. (These users may be applications programmers, managers and others with information needs, and various OS programs.)A DBMS can organize, process, and present selected data elements from the database. This capability enables decision makers to search, probe, and query database contents in order to extract answers to nonrecurring and unplanned questions (hat aren't available in regular reports. These questions might initially be vague and / or poorly defined, but people can "browse” through the database until they have the needed information. In short, the DBMS will “m anage”the stored data items and assemble the needed items from the common database in response to the queries of those who aren’t10programmers. In a file-oriented system, users needing special information may communicate their needs to a programmer, who, when time permits, will write one or more programs to extract the data and prepare the information[4].The availability of a DBMS, however, offers users a much faster alternative communications path.If the DBMS provides a way to interactively and update the database, as well as interrogate it capability allows for managing personal data-Aces however, it does not automatically leave an audit trail of actions and docs not provide the kinds of control a necessary in a multiuser organization. These-controls arc only available when a set of application programs arc customized for each data entry and updating function.Software for personal computers which perform me of the DBMS functions have been very popular. Personal computers were intended for use by individuals for personal information storage and process- These machines have also been used extensively small enterprises, professionals like doctors, acrylics, engineers, lasers and so on .By the nature of intended usage, database systems on these machines except from several of the requirements of full doge database systems. Since data sharing is not tended, concurrent operations even less so. the fewer can be less complex. Security and integrity maintenance arc de-emphasized or absent. As data limes will be small, performance efficiency is also important. In fact, the only aspect of a database system that is important is data Independence. Data-dependence, as stated earlier, means that applicant programs and user queries need not recognizant physical organization of data on secondary storage. The importance of this aspect, particularly for the personal computer user, is that this greatly simplifies database usage. The user can store, access and manipulate data a( a high level (close to (he application) and be totally shielded from the10low level (close to the machine) details of data organization. We will not discuss details of specific PC DBMS software packages here. Let us summarize in the following the strengths and weaknesses of personal computer data-base software systems：The most obvious positive factor is the user friendliness of the software. A user with no prior computer background would be able to use the system to store personal and professional data, retrieve and perform relayed processing. The user should, of course, satiety himself about the quality of software and the freedom from errors (bugs) so that invest-merits in data arc protected.For the programmer implementing applications with them, the advantage lies in the support for applications development in terms of input screen generations, output report generation etc. offered by theses stems.The main negative point concerns absence of data protection features. Unless encrypted, data cane accessed by whoever has access to the machine Data can be destroyed through mistakes or malicious intent. The second weakness of many of the PC-based systems is that of performance. If data volumes grow up to a few thousands of records, performance could be a bottleneck.For organization where growth in data volumes is expected, availability of. the same or compatible software on large machines should be considered.This is one of the most common misconceptions about database management systems that are used in personal computers. Thoroughly comprehensive and sophisticated business systems can be developed in dBASE, Paradox and other DBMSs. However, they are created by experienced programmers using the DBMS's own programming language. Thai is not the same as users who create and manage personal10files that are not part of the mainstream company system.Transaction Management of DatabaseThe objective of long-duration transactions is to model long-duration, interactive Database access sessions in application environments. The fundamental assumption about short-duration of transactions that underlies the traditional model of transactions is inappropriate for long-duration transactions. The implementation of the traditional model of transactions may cause intolerably long waits when transactions aleph to acquire locks before accessing data, and may also cause a large amount of work to be lost when transactions are backed out in response to user-initiated aborts or system failure situations.The objective of a transaction model is to pro-vide a rigorous basis for automatically enforcing criterion for database consistency for a set of multiple concurrent read and write accesses to the database in the presence of potential system failure situations. The consistency criterion adopted for traditional transactions is the notion of scrializability. Scrializa-bility is enforced in conventional database systems through the use of locking for automatic concurrency control, and logging for automatic recovery from system failure situations. A “transaction’’ that doesn't provide a basis for automatically enforcing data-base consistency is not really a transaction. To be sure, a long-duration transaction need not adopt seri-alizability as its consistency criterion. However, there must be some consistency criterion.Version System Management of DatabaseDespite a large number of proposals on version support in the context of computer aided design and software engineering, the absence of a consensus on version semantics10has been a key impediment to version support in database systems. Because of the differences between files and databases, it is intuitively clear that the model of versions in database systems cannot be as simple as that adopted in file systems to support software engineering.For data-bases, it may be necessary to manage not only versions of single objects (e.g. a software module, document, but also versions of a collection of objects (e.g. a compound document, a user manual, etc. and perhaps even versions of the schema of database (c.g. a table or a class, a collection of tables or classes).Broadly, there arc three directions of research and development in versioning. First is the notion of a parameterized versioning", that is, designing and implementing a versioning system whose behavior may be tailored by adjusting system parameters This may be the only viable approach, in view of the fact that there are various plausible choices for virtually every single aspect of versioning.The second is to revisit these plausible choices for every aspect of versioning, with the view to discarding some of themes either impractical or flawed. The third is the investigation into the semantics and implementation of versioning collections of objects and of versioning the database.There is no consensus of the definition of the te rm “management information system”. Some writers prefer alternative terminology such as “information processing system”， "information and decision syste m, “organizational information syste m”, or simply “i nformat ion system” to refer to the computer-based information processing system which supports the operations, management, and decision-making functions of an organization. This text uses “MIS” because it is descriptive and generally understood; it also frequently uses "information system”instead of ''MIS” t o refer to an organizational information system.10A definition of a management information system, as the term is generally understood, is an integrated, user-machine system for providing information 丨o support operations, management, and decision-making functions in an organization. The system utilizes computer hardware and software; manual procedures: models for analysis planning, control and decision making; and a database. The fact that it is an integrated system does not mean that it is a single, monolithic structure: rather, ii means that the parts fit into an overall design. The elements of the definition arc highlighted below: Computer-based user-machine system.Conceptually, a management information can exist without computer, but it is the power of the computer which makes MIS feasible. The question is not whether computers should be used in management information system, but the extent to which information use should be computerized. The concept of a user-machine system implies that some (asks are best performed humans, while others are best done by machine. The user of an MIS is any person responsible for entering input da(a, instructing the system, or utilizing the information output of the system. For many problems, the user and the computer form a combined system with results obtained through a set of interactions between the computer and the user.User-machine interaction is facilitated by operation in which the user's input-output device (usually a visual display terminal) is connected lo the computer. The computer can be a personal computer serving only one user or a large computer that serves a number of users through terminals connected by communication lines. The user input-output device permits direct input of data and immediate output of results. For instance, a person using The computer interactively in financial planning poses 4t what10if* questions by entering input at the terminal keyboard; the results are displayed on the screen in a few second.The computer-based user-machine characteristics of an MIS affect the knowledge requirements of both system developer and system user, “computer-based” means that the designer of a management information system must have a knowledge of computers and of their use in processing. The “user-machine” concept means the system designer should also understand the capabilities of humans as system components (as information processors) and the behavior of humans as users of information.Information system applications should not require users Co be computer experts. However, users need to be able lo specify (heir information requirements; some understanding of computers, the nature of information, and its use in various management function aids users in this task.Management information system typically provide the basis for integration of organizational information processing. Individual applications within information systems arc developed for and by diverse sets of users. If there are no integrating processes and mechanisms, the individual applications may be inconsistent and incompatible. Data item may be specified differently and may not be compatible across applications that use the same data. There may be redundant development of separate applications when actually a single application could serve more than one need. A user wanting to perform analysis using data from two different applications may find the task very difficult and sometimes impossible.The first step in integration of information system applications is an overall information system plan. Even though application systems are implemented one at a10time, their design can be guided by the overall plan, which determines how they fit in with other functions. In essence, the information system is designed as a planed federation of small systems.Information system integration is also achieved through standards, guidelines, and procedures set by the MIS function. The enforcement of such standards and procedures permit diverse applications to share data, meet audit and control requirements, and be shares by multiple users. For instance, an application may be developed to run on a particular small computer. Standards for integration may dictate that the equipment selected be compatible with the centralized database. The trend in information system design is toward separate application processing form the data used to support it. The separate database is the mechanism by which data items are integrated across many applications and made consistently available to a variety of users. The need for a database in MIS is discussed below.The term “information” and “data” are frequently used interchangeably; However, information is generally defined as data that is meaningful or useful to The recipient. Data items are therefore the raw material for producing information.The underlying concept of a database is that data needs to be managed in order to be available for processing and have appropriate quality. This data management includes both software and organization. The software to create and manage a database is a database management system.When all access to any use of database is controlled through a database management system, all applications utilizing a particular data item access the same data item which is stored in only one place. A single updating of the data item updates it for10all uses. Integration through a database management system requires a central authority for the database. The data can be stored in one central computer or dispersed among several computers; the overriding requirement is that there be an organizational function to exercise control.It is usually insufficient for human recipients to receive only raw data or even summarized data. Data usually needs to be processed and presented in such a way that Che result is directed toward the decision to be made. To do this, processing of data items is based on a decision model.For example, an investment decision relative to new capital expenditures might be processed in terms of a capital expenditure decision model.Decision models can be used to support different stages in the decision-making process. “Intelligence’’ models can be used to search for problems and/or opportunities. Models can be used to identify and analyze possible solutions. Choice models such as optimization models maybe used to find the most desirable solution.In other words, multiple approaches are needed to meet a variety of decision situations. The following are examples and the type of model that might be included in an MIS to aid in analysis in support of decision-making; in a comprehensive information system, the decision maker has available a set of general models that can be applied to many analysis and decision situations plus a set of very specific models for unique decisions. Similar models are available tor planning and control. The set of models is the model base for the MIS.Models are generally most effective when the manager can use interactive dialog (o build a plan or to iterate through several decision choices under different conditions.10中文译文2:《数据库幸存者：成为一个摇滚名明星》众所周知，数据库是逻辑上相关的数据元的汇集.这些数据元可以按不同的结构组织起来，以满足单位和个人的多种处理和检索的需要。