Transaction

o The transaction is a set of logically related operation. It contains a

group of tasks.
o A transaction is an action or series of actions. It is performed by a
single user to perform operations for accessing the contents of the
database.

A transaction can be defined as a group of tasks. A single task (an

Atom) is the minimum processing unit which cannot be divided further.

Let’s take an example of a simple transaction. Suppose a bank

employee transfers Ksh 500 from A's account to B's account. This very
simple and small transaction involves several low-level tasks.

A’s Account

Open_Account(A)
Old_Balance = [Link]
New_Balance = Old_Balance - 500
[Link] = New_Balance
Close_Account(A)

B’s Account

Open_Account(B)
Old_Balance = [Link]
New_Balance = Old_Balance + 500
[Link] = New_Balance
Close_Account(B)

Operations of Transaction:

Following are the main operations of transaction:

Read(X): Read operation is used to read the value of X from the

database and stores it in a buffer in main memory.

Write(X): Write operation is used to write the value back to the

database from the buffer.

Let's take an example to debit transaction from an account which

consists of following operations:

1. R(X);
2. X = X - 500;
3. W(X);

Let's assume the value of X before starting of the transaction is 4000.

o The first operation reads X's value from database and stores it in a
buffer.
o The second operation will decrease the value of X by 500. So
buffer will contain 3500.
 o The third operation will write the buffer's value to the database. So
X's final value will be 3500.

But it may be possible that because of the failure of hardware, software

or power, etc. that transaction may fail before finished all the operations
in the set.

For example: If in the above transaction, the debit transaction fails after
executing operation 2 then X's value will remain 4000 in the database
which is not acceptable by the bank.

To solve this problem, we have two important operations:

Commit: It is used to save the work done permanently.

Rollback: It is used to undo the work done.

Transaction property

The transaction has the four properties. These are used to maintain
consistency in a database, before and after the transaction.

Property of Transaction (ACID)

1. Atomicity
2. Consistency
3. Isolation
4. Durability
A transaction in a database system must
maintain Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability − commonly
known as ACID properties − in order to ensure accuracy, completeness,
and data integrity.

Atomicity
o It states that all operations of the transaction take place at once if
not, the transaction is aborted.
o There is no midway, i.e., the transaction cannot occur partially.
Each transaction is treated as one unit and either run to completion
or is not executed at all.

Atomicity involves the following two operations:

Abort: If a transaction aborts then all the changes made are not visible.

Commit: If a transaction commits then all the changes made are visible.

Example: Let's assume that following transaction T consisting of T1

and T2. A consists of Rs 600 and B consists of Rs 300. Transfer Rs 100
from account A to account B.

T1 T2
 Read(A) Read(B)
A:= A-100 Y:= Y+100
Write(A) Write(B)

After completion of the transaction, A consists of Rs 500 and B consists

of Rs 400.

If the transaction T fails after the completion of transaction T1 but

before completion of transaction T2, then the amount will be deducted
from A but not added to B. This shows the inconsistent database state. In
order to ensure correctness of database state, the transaction must be
executed in entirety.

Consistency
o The integrity constraints are maintained so that the database is
consistent before and after the transaction.
o The execution of a transaction will leave a database in either its
prior stable state or a new stable state.
o The consistent property of database states that every transaction
sees a consistent database instance.
o The transaction is used to transform the database from one
consistent state to another consistent state.
 For example: The total amount must be maintained before or after the
transaction.

1. Total before T occurs = 600+300=900

2. Total after T occurs= 500+400=900

Therefore, the database is consistent. In the case when T1 is completed

but T2 fails, then inconsistency will occur.

Isolation
o It shows that the data which is used at the time of execution of a
transaction cannot be used by the second transaction until the first
one is completed.
o In isolation, if the transaction T1 is being executed and using the
data item X, then that data item can't be accessed by any other
transaction T2 until the transaction T1 ends.
o The concurrency control subsystem of the DBMS enforced the
isolation property.

Durability
o The durability property is used to indicate the performance of the
database's consistent state. It states that the transaction made the
permanent changes.
o They cannot be lost by the erroneous operation of a faulty
transaction or by the system failure. When a transaction is
 completed, then the database reaches a state known as the
consistent state. That consistent state cannot be lost, even in the
event of a system's failure.
o The recovery subsystem of the DBMS has the responsibility of
Durability property.

States of Transaction

In a database, the transaction can be in one of the following states -

Active state
o The active state is the first state of every transaction. In this state,
the transaction is being executed.
o For example: Insertion or deletion or updating a record is done
here. But all the records are still not saved to the database.

Partially committed
o In the partially committed state, a transaction executes its final
operation, but the data is still not saved to the database.
o In the total mark calculation example, a final display of the total
marks step is executed in this state.

Committed

A transaction is said to be in a committed state if it executes all its

operations successfully. In this state, all the effects are now permanently
saved on the database system.

Failed state
o If any of the checks made by the database recovery system fails,
then the transaction is said to be in the failed state.
o In the example of total mark calculation, if the database is not able
to fire a query to fetch the marks, then the transaction will fail to
execute.
Aborted
o If any of the checks fail and the transaction has reached a failed
state then the database recovery system will make sure that the
database is in its previous consistent state. If not then it will abort
or roll back the transaction to bring the database into a consistent
state.
o If the transaction fails in the middle of the transaction then before
executing the transaction, all the executed transactions are rolled
back to its consistent state.
o After aborting the transaction, the database recovery module will
select one of the two operations:
1. Re-start the transaction
2. Kill the transaction

DBMS SCHEDULE

Schedule

A series of operation from one transaction to another transaction is

known as schedule. It is used to preserve the order of the operation in
each of the individual transaction.
 1. Serial Schedule

The serial schedule is a type of schedule where one transaction is

executed completely before starting another transaction. In the serial
schedule, when the first transaction completes its cycle, then the next
transaction is executed.

For example: Suppose there are two transactions T1 and T2 which have
some operations. If it has no interleaving of operations, then there are
the following two possible outcomes:

1. Execute all the operations of T1 which was followed by all the

operations of T2.
2. Execute all the operations of T1 which was followed by all the
operations of T2.
 o In the given (a) figure, Schedule A shows the serial schedule where
T1 followed by T2.
o In the given (b) figure, Schedule B shows the serial schedule where
T2 followed by T1.

2. Non-serial Schedule
o If interleaving of operations is allowed, then there will be non-
serial schedule.
o It contains many possible orders in which the system can execute
the individual operations of the transactions.
o In the given figure (c) and (d), Schedule C and Schedule D are the
non-serial schedules. It has interleaving of operations.

3. Serializable schedule
o The serializability of schedules is used to find non-serial schedules
that allow the transaction to execute concurrently without
interfering with one another.
o It identifies which schedules are correct when executions of the
transaction have interleaving of their operations.
o A non-serial schedule will be serializable if its result is equal to the
result of its transactions executed serially.
Here,
Schedule A and Schedule B are serial schedule.

Schedule C and Schedule D are Non-serial schedule.

Testing of Serializability

Serialization Graph is used to test the Serializability of a schedule.

Assume a schedule S. For S, we construct a graph known as precedence

graph. This graph has a pair G = (V, E), where V consists a set of
vertices, and E consists a set of edges. The set of vertices is used to
contain all the transactions participating in the schedule. The set of
edges is used to contain all edges Ti ->Tj for which one of the three
conditions holds:

1. Create a node Ti → Tj if Ti executes write (Q) before Tj executes

read (Q).
2. Create a node Ti → Tj if Ti executes read (Q) before Tj executes
write (Q).
3. Create a node Ti → Tj if Ti executes write (Q) before Tj executes
write (Q).
 o If a precedence graph contains a single edge Ti → Tj, then all the
instructions of Ti are executed before the first instruction of Tj is
executed.
o If a precedence graph for schedule S contains a cycle, then S is
non-serializable. If the precedence graph has no cycle, then S is
known as serializable.

For example:
Explanation:

Read(A): In T1, no subsequent writes to A, so no new edges

Read(B): In T2, no subsequent writes to B, so no new edges
Read(C): In T3, no subsequent writes to C, so no new edges
Write(B): B is subsequently read by T3, so add edge T2 → T3
Write(C): C is subsequently read by T1, so add edge T3 → T1
Write(A): A is subsequently read by T2, so add edge T1 → T2
Write(A): In T2, no subsequent reads to A, so no new edges
Write(C): In T1, no subsequent reads to C, so no new edges
Write(B): In T3, no subsequent reads to B, so no new edges

Precedence graph for schedule S1:

The precedence graph for schedule S1 contains a cycle that's why

Schedule S1 is non-serializable.
Explanation:

Read(A): In T4,no subsequent writes to A, so no new edges

Read(C): In T4, no subsequent writes to C, so no new edges
Write(A): A is subsequently read by T5, so add edge T4 → T5
Read(B): In T5,no subsequent writes to B, so no new edges
Write(C): C is subsequently read by T6, so add edge T4 → T6
Write(B): A is subsequently read by T6, so add edge T5 → T6
Write(C): In T6, no subsequent reads to C, so no new edges
Write(A): In T5, no subsequent reads to A, so no new edges
Write(B): In T6, no subsequent reads to B, so no new edges

Precedence graph for schedule S2:

The precedence graph for schedule S2 contains no cycle that's why

ScheduleS2 is serializable.

Conflict Serializable Schedule

o A schedule is called conflict serializability if after swapping of

non-conflicting operations, it can transform into a serial schedule.
o The schedule will be a conflict serializable if it is conflict
equivalent to a serial schedule.
Conflicting Operations

The two operations become conflicting if all conditions satisfy:

1. Both belong to separate transactions.

2. They have the same data item.
3. They contain at least one write operation.

Example:

Swapping is possible only if S1 and S2 are logically equal.

Here, S1 = S2. That means it is non-conflict.

Here, S1 ≠ S2. That means it is conflict.

Conflict Equivalent

In the conflict equivalent, one can be transformed to another by

swapping non-conflicting operations. In the given example, S2 is
conflict equivalent to S1 (S1 can be converted to S2 by swapping non-
conflicting operations).

Two schedules are said to be conflict equivalent if and only if:

1. They contain the same set of the transaction.

2. If each pair of conflict operations are ordered in the same way.
Example:

Schedule S2 is a serial schedule because, in this, all operations of T1 are

performed before starting any operation of T2. Schedule S1 can be
transformed into a serial schedule by swapping non-conflicting
operations of S1.

After swapping of non-conflict operations, the schedule S1 becomes:

T1 T2

Read(A)
Write(A)
 Read(B)
Write(B)
Read(A)
Write(A)
Read(B)
Write(B)

Since, S1 is conflict serializable.

View Serializability

o A schedule will view serializable if it is view equivalent to a serial

schedule.
o If a schedule is conflict serializable, then it will be view
serializable.
o The view serializable which does not conflict serializable contains
blind writes.

View Equivalent

Two schedules S1 and S2 are said to be view equivalent if they satisfy

the following conditions:
1. Initial Read

An initial read of both schedules must be the same. Suppose two

schedule S1 and S2. In schedule S1, if a transaction T1 is reading the
data item A, then in S2, transaction T1 should also read A.

Above two schedules are view equivalent because Initial read operation
in S1 is done by T1 and in S2 it is also done by T1.

2. Updated Read

In schedule S1, if Ti is reading A which is updated by Tj then in S2 also,

Ti should read A which is updated by Tj.
Above two schedules are not view equal because, in S1, T3 is reading A
updated by T2 and in S2, T3 is reading A updated by T1.

3. Final Write

A final write must be the same between both the schedules. In schedule
S1, if a transaction T1 updates A at last then in S2, final writes
operations should also be done by T1.
 Above two schedules is view equal because Final write operation in S1
is done by T3 and in S2, the final write operation is also done by T3.

Example:

Schedule S

With 3 transactions, the total number of possible schedule

1. = 3! = 6
2. S1 = <T1 T2 T3>
3. S2 = <T1 T3 T2>
4. S3 = <T2 T3 T1>
5. S4 = <T2 T1 T3>
6. S5 = <T3 T1 T2>
7. S6 = <T3 T2 T1>

Taking first schedule S1:

Schedule S1

Step 1: final updation on data items

In both schedules S and S1, there is no read except the initial read that's
why we don't need to check that condition.

Step 2: Initial Read

The initial read operation in S is done by T1 and in S1, it is also done by

T1.

Step 3: Final Write

The final write operation in S is done by T3 and in S1, it is also done by

T3. So, S and S1 are view Equivalent.

The first schedule S1 satisfies all three conditions, so we don't need to

check another schedule.

Hence, view equivalent serial schedule is:

 T1 → T2 → T3
Recoverability of Schedule
Sometimes a transaction may not execute completely due to a
software issue, system crash or hardware failure. In that case, the
failed transaction has to be rollback. But some other transaction
may also have used value produced by the failed transaction. So
we also have to rollback those transactions.

The above table 1 shows a schedule which has two transactions. T1

reads and writes the value of A and that value is read and written by
T2. T2 commits but later on, T1 fails. Due to the failure, we have to
rollback T1. T2 should also be rollback because it reads the value
written by T1, but T2 can't be rollback because it already committed.
So this type of schedule is known as irrecoverable schedule.
Irrecoverable schedule: The schedule will be irrecoverable if Tj
reads the updated value of Ti and Tj committed before Ti commit.

The above table 2 shows a schedule with two transactions.

Transaction T1 reads and writes A, and that value is read and
written by transaction T2. But later on, T1 fails. Due to this, we
have to rollback T1. T2 should be rollback because T2 has read the
value written by T1. As it has not committed before T1 commits so
we can rollback transaction T2 as well. So it is recoverable with
cascade rollback.
Recoverable with cascading rollback: The schedule will be
recoverable with cascading rollback if Tj reads the updated value
of Ti. Commit of Tj is delayed till commit of Ti.
 The above Table 3 shows a schedule with two transactions.
Transaction T1 reads and write A and commits, and that value is read
and written by T2. So this is a cascade less recoverable schedule.

Failure Classification

To find that where the problem has occurred, we generalize a failure into
the following categories:

1. Transaction failure
2. System crash
3. Disk failure
1. Transaction failure

The transaction failure occurs when it fails to execute or when it

reaches a point from where it can't go any further. If a few
transaction or process is hurt, then this is called as transaction
failure.

Reasons for a transaction failure could be -

1. Logical errors: If a transaction cannot complete due to some

code error or an internal error condition, then the logical error
occurs.
2. Syntax error: It occurs where the DBMS itself terminates an
active transaction because the database system is not able to
execute it. For example, The system aborts an active
transaction, in case of deadlock or resource unavailability.

2. System Crash
o System failure can occur due to power failure or other
hardware or software failure. Example: Operating system
error.

Fail-stop assumption: In the system crash, non-volatile

storage is assumed not to be corrupted.
 3. Disk Failure
o It occurs where hard-disk drives or storage drives used to fail
frequently. It was a common problem in the early days of
technology evolution.
o Disk failure occurs due to the formation of bad sectors, disk
head crash, and unreachability to the disk or any other
failure, which destroy all or part of disk storage.

Log-Based Recovery

o The log is a sequence of records. Log of each transaction is

maintained in some stable storage so that if any failure occurs, then
it can be recovered from there.
o If any operation is performed on the database, then it will be
recorded in the log.
o But the process of storing the logs should be done before the actual
transaction is applied in the database.

Let's assume there is a transaction to modify the City of a student. The

following logs are written for this transaction.

o When the transaction is initiated, then it writes 'start' log.

1. <Tn, Start>
o When the transaction modifies the City from 'Noida' to 'Bangalore',
then another log is written to the file.
 1. <Tn, City, 'Noida', 'Bangalore' >
o When the transaction is finished, then it writes another log to
indicate the end of the transaction.

1. <Tn, Commit>

There are two approaches to modify the database:

1. Deferred database modification:

o The deferred modification technique occurs if the transaction does
not modify the database until it has committed.
o In this method, all the logs are created and stored in the stable
storage, and the database is updated when a transaction commits.

2. Immediate database modification:

o The Immediate modification technique occurs if database
modification occurs while the transaction is still active.
o In this technique, the database is modified immediately after every
operation. It follows an actual database modification.

Recovery using Log records

When the system is crashed, then the system consults the log to find
which transactions need to be undone and which need to be redone.
 1. If the log contains the record <Ti, Start> and <Ti, Commit> or <Ti,
Commit>, then the Transaction Ti needs to be redone.
2. If log contains record<Tn, Start> but does not contain the record
either <Ti, commit> or <Ti, abort>, then the Transaction Ti needs
to be undone.

Checkpoint

o The checkpoint is a type of mechanism where all the previous logs

are removed from the system and permanently stored in the storage
disk.
o The checkpoint is like a bookmark. While the execution of the
transaction, such checkpoints are marked, and the transaction is
executed then using the steps of the transaction, the log files will
be created.
o When it reaches to the checkpoint, then the transaction will be
updated into the database, and till that point, the entire log file will
be removed from the file. Then the log file is updated with the new
step of transaction till next checkpoint and so on.
o The checkpoint is used to declare a point before which the DBMS
was in the consistent state, and all transactions were committed.
Recovery using Checkpoint

In the following manner, a recovery system recovers the database from

this failure:

o The recovery system reads log files from the end to start. It reads
log files from T4 to T1.
o Recovery system maintains two lists, a redo-list, and an undo-list.
o The transaction is put into redo state if the recovery system sees a
log with <Tn, Start> and <Tn, Commit> or just <Tn, Commit>. In
the redo-list and their previous list, all the transactions are removed
and then redone before saving their logs.
 o For example: In the log file, transaction T2 and T3 will have <Tn,
Start> and <Tn, Commit>. The T1 transaction will have only <Tn,
commit> in the log file. That's why the transaction is committed
after the checkpoint is crossed. Hence it puts T1, T2 and T3
transaction into redo list.
o The transaction is put into undo state if the recovery system sees a
log with <Tn, Start> but no commit or abort log found. In the
undo-list, all the transactions are undone, and their logs are
removed.
o For example: Transaction T4 will have <Tn, Start>. So T4 will be
put into undo list since this transaction is not yet complete and
failed amid.

DBMS Concurrency Control

Concurrency Control is the management procedure that is required for

controlling concurrent execution of the operations that take place on a
database.

Concurrent Execution in DBMS

o In a multi-user system, multiple users can access and use the same
database at one time, which is known as the concurrent execution
 of the database. It means that the same database is executed
simultaneously on a multi-user system by different users.
o While working on the database transactions, there occurs the
requirement of using the database by multiple users for performing
different operations, and in that case, concurrent execution of the
database is performed.
o The thing is that the simultaneous execution that is performed
should be done in an interleaved manner, and no operation should
affect the other executing operations, thus maintaining the
consistency of the database. Thus, on making the concurrent
execution of the transaction operations, there occur several
challenging problems that need to be solved.

Problems with Concurrent Execution

In a database transaction, the two main operations
are READ and WRITE operations. So, there is a need to manage
these two operations in the concurrent execution of the transactions as
if these operations are not performed in an interleaved manner, and
the data may become inconsistent. So, the following problems occur
with the Concurrent Execution of the operations:

Problem 1: Lost Update Problems (W - W Conflict)

The problem occurs when two different database transactions perform

the read/write operations on the same database items in an interleaved
manner (i.e., concurrent execution) that makes the values of the items
incorrect hence making the database inconsistent.

For example:

Consider the below diagram where two transactions T X and TY, are
performed on the same account A where the balance of account A is
$300.

o At time t1, transaction TX reads the value of account A, i.e., $300

(only read).
o At time t2, transaction TX deducts $50 from account A that
becomes $250 (only deducted and not updated/write).
 o Alternately, at time t3, transaction TY reads the value of account A
that will be $300 only because TX didn't update the value yet.
o At time t4, transaction TY adds $100 to account A that becomes
$400 (only added but not updated/write).
o At time t6, transaction TX writes the value of account A that will be
updated as $250 only, as TY didn't update the value yet.
o Similarly, at time t7, transaction T Y writes the values of account A,
so it will write as done at time t4 that will be $400. It means the
value written by TX is lost, i.e., $250 is lost.

Hence data becomes incorrect, and database sets to inconsistent.

Dirty Read Problems (W-R Conflict)

The dirty read problem occurs when one transaction updates an item of
the database, and somehow the transaction fails, and before the data
gets rollback, the updated database item is accessed by another
transaction. There comes the Read-Write Conflict between both
transactions.

For example:

Consider two transactions TX and TY in the below diagram

performing read/write operations on account A where the available
balance in account A is $300:
o At time t1, transaction TX reads the value of account A, i.e., $300.
o At time t2, transaction TX adds $50 to account A that becomes
$350.
o At time t3, transaction TX writes the updated value in account A,
i.e., $350.
o Then at time t4, transaction TY reads account A that will be read as
$350.
o Then at time t5, transaction TX rollbacks due to server problem,
and the value changes back to $300 (as initially).
o But the value for account A remains $350 for transaction T Y as
committed, which is the dirty read and therefore known as the
Dirty Read Problem.
Unrepeatable Read Problem (W-R Conflict)

Also known as Inconsistent Retrievals Problem that occurs when in a

transaction, two different values are read for the same database item.

For example:

Consider two transactions, TX and TY, performing the read/write

operations on account A, having an available balance = $300. The
diagram is shown below:

o At time t1, transaction TX reads the value from account A, i.e.,

$300.
o At time t2, transaction TY reads the value from account A, i.e.,
$300.
 o At time t3, transaction TY updates the value of account A by
adding $100 to the available balance, and then it becomes $400.
o At time t4, transaction TY writes the updated value, i.e., $400.
o After that, at time t5, transaction T X reads the available value of
account A, and that will be read as $400.
o It means that within the same transaction TX, it reads two different
values of account A, i.e., $ 300 initially, and after updation made
by transaction TY, it reads $400. It is an unrepeatable read and is
therefore known as the Unrepeatable read problem.

Thus, in order to maintain consistency in the database and avoid such

problems that take place in concurrent execution, management is
needed, and that is where the concept of Concurrency Control comes
into role.

Concurrency Control

Concurrency Control is the working concept that is required for

controlling and managing the concurrent execution of database
operations and thus avoiding the inconsistencies in the database. Thus,
for maintaining the concurrency of the database, we have the
concurrency control protocols.
Concurrency Control Protocols

The concurrency control protocols ensure the atomicity, consistency,

isolation, durability and serializability of the concurrent execution of the
database transactions. Therefore, these protocols are categorized as:

o Lock Based Concurrency Control Protocol

o Time Stamp Concurrency Control Protocol
o Validation Based Concurrency Control Protocol

We will understand and discuss each protocol one by one in our next
sections.

Lock-Based Protocol

In this type of protocol, any transaction cannot read or write data until it
acquires an appropriate lock on it. There are two types of lock:

1. Shared lock:

o It is also known as a Read-only lock. In a shared lock, the data

item can only read by the transaction.
o It can be shared between the transactions because when the
transaction holds a lock, then it can't update the data on the data
item.

2. Exclusive lock:
 o In the exclusive lock, the data item can be both reads as well as
written by the transaction.
o This lock is exclusive, and in this lock, multiple transactions do not
modify the same data simultaneously.

There are four types of lock protocols available:

1. Simplistic lock protocol

It is the simplest way of locking the data while transaction. Simplistic

lock-based protocols allow all the transactions to get the lock on the data
before insert or delete or update on it. It will unlock the data item after
completing the transaction.

2. Pre-claiming Lock Protocol

o Pre-claiming Lock Protocols evaluate the transaction to list all the
data items on which they need locks.
o Before initiating an execution of the transaction, it requests DBMS
for all the lock on all those data items.
o If all the locks are granted then this protocol allows the transaction
to begin. When the transaction is completed then it releases all the
lock.
o If all the locks are not granted then this protocol allows the
transaction to rolls back and waits until all the locks are granted.
3. Two-phase locking (2PL)
o The two-phase locking protocol divides the execution phase of the
transaction into three parts.
o In the first part, when the execution of the transaction starts, it
seeks permission for the lock it requires.
o In the second part, the transaction acquires all the locks. The third
phase is started as soon as the transaction releases its first lock.
o In the third phase, the transaction cannot demand any new locks. It
only releases the acquired locks.
There are two phases of 2PL:

Growing phase: In the growing phase, a new lock on the data item may
be acquired by the transaction, but none can be released.

Shrinking phase: In the shrinking phase, existing lock held by the

transaction may be released, but no new locks can be acquired.

In the below example, if lock conversion is allowed then the following

phase can happen:

1. Upgrading of lock (from S(a) to X (a)) is allowed in growing

phase.
2. Downgrading of lock (from X(a) to S(a)) must be done in
shrinking phase.
Example:

The following way shows how unlocking and locking work with 2-PL.

Transaction T1:

o Growing phase: from step 1-3

o Shrinking phase: from step 5-7
o Lock point: at 3
Transaction T2:

o Growing phase: from step 2-6

o Shrinking phase: from step 8-9
o Lock point: at 6

4. Strict Two-phase locking (Strict-2PL)

o The first phase of Strict-2PL is similar to 2PL. In the first phase,
after acquiring all the locks, the transaction continues to execute
normally.
o The only difference between 2PL and strict 2PL is that Strict-2PL
does not release a lock after using it.
o Strict-2PL waits until the whole transaction to commit, and then it
releases all the locks at a time.
o Strict-2PL protocol does not have shrinking phase of lock release.
It does not have cascading abort as 2PL does.

Timestamp Ordering Protocol

o The Timestamp Ordering Protocol is used to order the transactions

based on their Timestamps. The order of transaction is nothing but
the ascending order of the transaction creation.
o The priority of the older transaction is higher that's why it executes
first. To determine the timestamp of the transaction, this protocol
uses system time or logical counter.
o The lock-based protocol is used to manage the order between
conflicting pairs among transactions at the execution time. But
Timestamp based protocols start working as soon as a transaction
is created.
o Let's assume there are two transactions T1 and T2. Suppose the
transaction T1 has entered the system at 007 times and transaction
T2 has entered the system at 009 times. T1 has the higher priority,
so it executes first as it is entered the system first.
o The timestamp ordering protocol also maintains the timestamp of
last 'read' and 'write' operation on a data.

Basic Timestamp ordering protocol works as follows:

1. Check the following condition whenever a transaction Ti issues

a Read (X) operation:
 o If W_TS(X) >TS(Ti) then the operation is rejected.
o If W_TS(X) <= TS(Ti) then the operation is executed.
o Timestamps of all the data items are updated.

2. Check the following condition whenever a transaction Ti issues

a Write(X) operation:

o If TS(Ti) < R_TS(X) then the operation is rejected.

o If TS(Ti) < W_TS(X) then the operation is rejected and Ti is rolled
back otherwise the operation is executed.

Where,

TS(TI) denotes the timestamp of the transaction Ti.

R_TS(X) denotes the Read time-stamp of data-item X.

W_TS(X) denotes the Write time-stamp of data-item X.

Advantages and Disadvantages of TO protocol:

o TO protocol ensures serializability since the precedence graph is as
follows:
 o TS protocol ensures freedom from deadlock that means no
transaction ever waits.
o But the schedule may not be recoverable and may not even be
cascade- free.

Validation Based Protocol

Validation phase is also known as optimistic concurrency control

technique. In the validation based protocol, the transaction is executed in
the following three phases:

1. Read phase: In this phase, the transaction T is read and executed.

It is used to read the value of various data items and stores them in
temporary local variables. It can perform all the write operations
on temporary variables without an update to the actual database.
 2. Validation phase: In this phase, the temporary variable value will
be validated against the actual data to see if it violates the
serializability.
3. Write phase: If the validation of the transaction is validated, then
the temporary results are written to the database or system
otherwise the transaction is rolled back.

Here each phase has the following different timestamps:

Start(Ti): It contains the time when Ti started its execution.

Validation (Ti): It contains the time when Ti finishes its read phase and
starts its validation phase.

Finish(Ti): It contains the time when Ti finishes its write phase.

o This protocol is used to determine the time stamp for the

transaction for serialization using the time stamp of the validation
phase, as it is the actual phase which determines if the transaction
will commit or rollback.
o Hence TS(T) = validation(T).
o The serializability is determined during the validation process. It
can't be decided in advance.
o While executing the transaction, it ensures a greater degree of
concurrency and also less number of conflicts.
o Thus it contains transactions which have less number of rollbacks.

Thomas write Rule

Thomas Write Rule provides the guarantee of serializability order for

the protocol. It improves the Basic Timestamp Ordering Algorithm.

The basic Thomas write rules are as follows:

o If TS(T) < R_TS(X) then transaction T is aborted and rolled

back, and operation is rejected.
o If TS(T) < W_TS(X) then don't execute the W_item(X)
operation of the transaction and continue processing.
o If neither condition 1 nor condition 2 occurs, then allowed to
execute the WRITE operation by transaction Ti and set
W_TS(X) to TS(T).

If we use the Thomas write rule then some serializable schedule can
be permitted that does not conflict serializable as illustrate by the
schedule in a given figure:
Figure: A Serializable Schedule that is not Conflict Serializable

In the above figure, T1's read and precedes T1's write of the same data
item. This schedule does not conflict serializable.

Thomas write rule checks that T2's write is never seen by any
transaction. If we delete the write operation in transaction T2, then
conflict serializable schedule can be obtained which is shown in below
figure.

Figure: A Conflict Serializable Schedule

Multiple Granularity

Let's start by understanding the meaning of granularity.

Granularity: It is the size of data item allowed to lock.

Multiple Granularity:
o It can be defined as hierarchically breaking up the database into
blocks which can be locked.
 o The Multiple Granularity protocol enhances concurrency and
reduces lock overhead.
o It maintains the track of what to lock and how to lock.
o It makes easy to decide either to lock a data item or to unlock a
data item. This type of hierarchy can be graphically represented as
a tree.

For example: Consider a tree which has four levels of nodes.

o The first level or higher level shows the entire database.

o The second level represents a node of type area. The higher level
database consists of exactly these areas.
o The area consists of children nodes which are known as files. No
file can be present in more than one area.
o Finally, each file contains child nodes known as records. The file
has exactly those records that are its child nodes. No records
represent in more than one file.
o Hence, the levels of the tree starting from the top level are as
follows:
1. Database
2. Area
3. File
4. Record
In this example, the highest level shows the entire database. The levels
below are file, record, and fields.

There are three additional lock modes with multiple granularity:

Intention Mode Lock

Intention-shared (IS): It contains explicit locking at a lower level of the

tree but only with shared locks.
Intention-Exclusive (IX): It contains explicit locking at a lower level
with exclusive or shared locks.

Shared & Intention-Exclusive (SIX): In this lock, the node is locked in

shared mode, and some node is locked in exclusive mode by the same
transaction.

Compatibility Matrix with Intention Lock Modes: The below table

describes the compatibility matrix for these lock modes:

It uses the intention lock modes to ensure serializability. It requires that

if a transaction attempts to lock a node, then that node must follow these
protocols:

o Transaction T1 should follow the lock-compatibility matrix.

o Transaction T1 firstly locks the root of the tree. It can lock it in any
mode.
 o If T1 currently has the parent of the node locked in either IX or IS
mode, then the transaction T1 will lock a node in S or IS mode
only.
o If T1 currently has the parent of the node locked in either IX or
SIX modes, then the transaction T1 will lock a node in X, SIX, or
IX mode only.
o If T1 has not previously unlocked any node only, then the
Transaction T1 can lock a node.
o If T1 currently has none of the children of the node-locked only,
then Transaction T1 will unlock a node.

Observe that in multiple-granularity, the locks are acquired in top-down

order, and locks must be released in bottom-up order.

o If transaction T1 reads record Ra9 in file Fa, then transaction T1

needs to lock the database, area A1 and file Fa in IX mode. Finally,
it needs to lock Ra2 in S mode.
o If transaction T2 modifies record Ra9 in file Fa, then it can do so
after locking the database, area A1 and file Fa in IX mode. Finally,
it needs to lock the Ra9 in X mode.
o If transaction T3 reads all the records in file F a, then transaction T3
needs to lock the database, and area A in IS mode. At last, it needs
to lock Fa in S mode.
 o If transaction T4 reads the entire database, then T4 needs to lock
the database in S mode.

Recovery with Concurrent Transaction

o Whenever more than one transaction is being executed, then the

interleaved of logs occur. During recovery, it would become
difficult for the recovery system to backtrack all logs and then start
recovering.
o To ease this situation, 'checkpoint' concept is used by most DBMS.

Deadlock

A deadlock is a condition where two or more transactions are waiting

indefinitely for one another to give up locks. Deadlock is said to be one
of the most feared complications in DBMS as no task ever gets finished
and is in waiting state forever.

For example: In the student table, transaction T1 holds a lock on some

rows and needs to update some rows in the grade table. Simultaneously,
transaction T2 holds locks on some rows in the grade table and needs to
update the rows in the Student table held by Transaction T1.
Now, the main problem arises. Now Transaction T1 is waiting for T2 to
release its lock and similarly, transaction T2 is waiting for T1 to release
its lock. All activities come to a halt state and remain at a standstill. It
will remain in a standstill until the DBMS detects the deadlock and
aborts one of the transactions.

Deadlocks are not healthy for a system. In case a system is stuck in a

deadlock, the transactions involved in the deadlock are either rolled
back or restarted.

Deadlock Detection

In a database, when a transaction waits indefinitely to obtain a lock, then

the DBMS should detect whether the transaction is involved in a
deadlock or not. The lock manager maintains a Wait for the graph to
detect the deadlock cycle in the database.
Wait for Graph
o This is the suitable method for deadlock detection. In this method,
a graph is created based on the transaction and their lock. If the
created graph has a cycle or closed loop, then there is a deadlock.
o The wait for the graph is maintained by the system for every
transaction which is waiting for some data held by the others. The
system keeps checking the graph if there is any cycle in the graph.

The wait for a graph for the above scenario is shown below:
Deadlock Prevention
o Deadlock prevention method is suitable for a large database. If the
resources are allocated in such a way that deadlock never occurs,
then the deadlock can be prevented.
o The Database management system analyzes the operations of the
transaction whether they can create a deadlock situation or not. If
they do, then the DBMS never allowed that transaction to be
executed.

Wait-Die scheme

In this scheme, if a transaction requests for a resource which is already

held with a conflicting lock by another transaction then the DBMS
simply checks the timestamp of both transactions. It allows the older
transaction to wait until the resource is available for execution.

Let's assume there are two transactions Ti and Tj and let TS(T) is a
timestamp of any transaction T. If T2 holds a lock by some other
transaction and T1 is requesting for resources held by T2 then the
following actions are performed by DBMS:

1. Check if TS(Ti) < TS(Tj) - If Ti is the older transaction and Tj has

held some resource, then Ti is allowed to wait until the data-item is
available for execution. That means if the older transaction is
waiting for a resource which is locked by the younger transaction,
 then the older transaction is allowed to wait for resource until it is
available.
2. Check if TS(Ti) < TS(Tj) - If Ti is older transaction and has held
some resource and if Tj is waiting for it, then Tj is killed and
restarted later with the random delay but with the same timestamp.

Wound wait scheme

o In wound wait scheme, if the older transaction requests for a
resource which is held by the younger transaction, then older
transaction forces younger one to kill the transaction and release
the resource. After the minute delay, the younger transaction is
restarted but with the same timestamp.
o If the older transaction has held a resource which is requested by
the Younger transaction, then the younger transaction is asked to
wait until older releases it.

Deadlock Avoidance
o It is better to avoid the database rather than aborting or restating
the database. This is a waste of time and resource.
o Deadlock avoidance mechanism is used to detect any deadlock
situation in advance. A method like "wait for graph" is used for
detecting the deadlock situation but this method is suitable only for
the smaller database. For the larger database, deadlock prevention
method can be used.
 o Aborting a transaction is not always a practical approach. Instead,
deadlock avoidance mechanisms can be used to detect any
deadlock situation in advance. Methods like "wait-for graph" are
available but they are suitable for only those systems where
transactions are lightweight having fewer instances of resource. In
a bulky system, deadlock prevention techniques may work well.

Wait-for Graph

This is a simple method available to track if any deadlock situation may

arise. For each transaction entering into the system, a node is created.
When a transaction Ti requests for a lock on an item, say X, which is
held by some other transaction Tj, a directed edge is created from Ti to
Tj. If Tj releases item X, the edge between them is dropped and Ti locks
the data item.

The system maintains this wait-for graph for every transaction waiting
for some data items held by others. The system keeps checking if there's
any cycle in the graph.
Here, we can use any of the two following approaches −

 First, do not allow any request for an item, which is already locked
by another transaction. This is not always feasible and may cause
starvation, where a transaction indefinitely waits for a data item
and can never acquire it.
 The second option is to roll back one of the transactions. It is not
always feasible to roll back the younger transaction, as it may be
important than the older one. With the help of some relative
algorithm, a transaction is chosen, which is to be aborted. This
transaction is known as the victim and the process is known
as victim selection.