What are the advantages and disadvantages of a DDBMS?

Answer 1

Organizations may be distributed across a wide geographic area. It is natural for databases to be set up to reflect this. Local areas will keep local information and this allows local users to quickly access the local database. A headquarters may also wish to make global inquiries to local data at the local regions.

This allows users at one site to access data stored at other sites. Data is placed close to the users who normally access this data, it gives them local control and allows them to set up and establish local policies regarding the data use. A global administrator is responsible for the entire system and should help at a local level to develop and manage the dbms.

Data in a centralized DB is inaccessible if there is a problem with the DB. However i a distributed site the local data is only inaccessible and if replication is i force then all data may be available at another site.

Since data is kept local then local access is much quicker than access to a centralized DB.

A DDBMS is much more complex than a centralized DB. If there are conflicts in hardware and software in use then this may cause performance issues and the sited advantages may become disadvantages.

It is much more expensive to setup and maintain a DDBMS. More hardware is required the network maintenance is increased the communication costs increase and there will be additional labour costs.

It is much more difficult to maintain a secure network system across multiple locations. The network needs to be made secure and access to replicated data needs to be maintained across multiple sites.

Answer 2

Advantages of a Distributed Database Management System (DDBMS):

1. Enhanced availability and reliability: Data can be distributed across multiple locations for improved fault tolerance.
2. Improved performance: Queries can be processed in parallel on multiple nodes, leading to faster response times.
3. Scalability: DDBMS can easily scale by adding more nodes to the network.

Disadvantages of a DDBMS:

1. Increased complexity: Managing distributed data adds complexity to system design and administration.
2. Data consistency challenges: Ensuring data consistency across distributed nodes can be complex and require careful coordination.
3. Security risks: Distributed systems are more susceptible to security breaches and require robust security measures.