Assignment 1-due 8/8
- Describe the following disk concepts or components.
- Platter and recording surface.
- Track.
- Cylinder.
- Read/write head.
- Access-arm mechanism.
- Describe the four steps in the transfer of data from
disk to primary memory.
- What is an index? Compare the concept of the index
in a book to an index in an information system.
- What is an indexed-sequential file?
- Describe how a direct search works using a B+-tree
index.
- Answer the following general questions about
indexes:
- Can an index be built over a non-unique field?
- Can an index be built over a field if the file is not
stored in sequence by that field?
- Can an index be built over a combination of fields
as well as over a single field?
- Is there a limit to the number of indexes that can
be built for a file?
- How is an index affected when a change is made
to a file? Does every change to a file affect every
one of its indexes?
- Can an index be used to achieve sequential
access? Explain
- Describe how a direct search works in a hashed file
using the division-remainder method of hashing.
- What is physical database design?
- Describe why physical database design is necessary.