Chapter 15 Database and the Internet
Last Update: April 26, 2004 — 8AM
Chapter 15: Database and the Internet
Multiple Choice
1. All of the following are issues about database that are particular to the Internet
environment, except ____.
a. database connectivity
b. non-standard data types
c. database control issues such as scalability and availability
d. data normalization
e. data extraction into XML
2. If we consider the World Wide Web to be a client/server system ____.
a. the consumer PCs and their browsers are the clients and the company Web servers
are the servers
b. the company Web servers are the clients and the consumer PCs and their browsers
are the servers
c. the World Wide Web serves as the clients and the Internet is the server
d. the Internet serves as the clients and the World Wide Web is the server
e. the consumer PCs and their browsers and the company Web servers are
interchangeable as the clients and servers
3. In the Web database environment, middleware is needed between ____.
a. the PCs and the browsers
b. the browsers and the Internet
c. the Internet and the Web server
d. the Web server and the database server
e. the database server and the database
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4. In the Web database environment, middleware is needed for all of the following
reasons, except there can be ____.
a. different kinds of hardware between the Web server and the database server
b. different browsers on the client-side
c. a variety of different kinds of routers and gateways
d. a variety of different kinds of data, not just data in relational databases
e. different kinds of application software languages
5. The interface known as the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) connects ____.
a. the database server to the database
b. the PCs to the Internet
c. the Web server to the Internet
d. the PCs to their browsers
e. the Web server to the database server
6. The set of standards known as Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) ____.
a. is front-end software to the Web server
b. is front-end software to the database server
c. connects the PCs and their browsers to the Internet
d. connects the database server to the database
e. connects the Internet to the Web server
7. All of the following are considered “expanded” data types for the Web, except ____.
a. graphic images
b. photographs
c. numeric data
d. video clips
e. audio clips
8. In Oracle, the letters “LOB” in the context of expanded data types stands for ____.
Chapter 15 Database and the Internet
a. letters or blocks
b. literal or blocks
c. the slow transmission of data
d. literal object
e. large object
9. In the object/relational DBMS Informix Universal Server, multimedia and large text
data are handled with ____.
a. Data Blades
b. Data Records
c. Data Tables
d. Data Stars
e. Binary Large Objects
10. All of the following are considered database control issues that are of special
importance in the Internet database environment, except ____.
a. performance
b. availability
c. scalability
d. integratability
e. security and privacy
11. All of the following can be significant factors in the amount of Internet traffic to a
Web site, except____.
a. the season of the year
b. the middleware in use
c. the rapidly growing popularity of a Web site
d. a major new product introduction
e. a major event on the Web site
12. When a query comes in from a PC on the Web, it is often the case that the retrieved
data is going to be used again by the same or by a different end-user fairly soon.
Such data can be held temporarily in a ____.
a. Flash disk
b. read-only memory
c. query cache
d. register
e. CGI
13. All of the following are reasons for a Web site being unavailable, except ____.
a. a system or telecommunications failure
b. the failure of a support system, such as an electrical outage
c. a planned down period for system maintenance
d. excessive traffic that clogs the system
e. the failure of an index during an update operation
14. The availability technique involving several servers and the technique known as load
balancing, is called ____.
a. loading
b. database copying
c. boosting
d. clustering
e. duplicating
15. A separate computer placed between the Web server and the Internet is called ____.
a. a backend
b. a cluster
c. middleware
d. a firewall
e. a cache
16. HTML is derived from a broader markup language called the _____ Generalized
Markup Language.
a. Standard
b. Universal
c. Specialized
d. Original
e. Longitudinal
17. The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is capable of handling the
formatting of displayed text and data. It is also capable of indicating the _____ of the
data.
a. date of creation
b. security classification
c. rating
d. proxy
e. meaning
18. In XML, each piece of data, is accompanied by tags that indicate its ____.
a. date of creation
b. security classification
c. rating
d. proxy
e. meaning
True/False
1. The World Wide Web can be considered to be a massive client/server system built on
the Internet.
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2. If the World Wide Web is considered to be a client/server system, the company Web
servers are the clients.
3. In the WWW environment, “middleware” is software that connects the PCs and their
browsers to the Internet.
4. In order for the application software running in the Web server to connect with
software outside of the Web server, there must be agreed upon interfaces such as the
Common Gateway Interface (CGI).
5. Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a level of standards created to aid Web
server access to relational databases.
6. Common Gateway Interface (CGI) and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) serve
the same purpose and are interchangeable.
7. Application Program Interface (API) serves a similar purpose as but has more
advanced functionality than Common Gateway Interface (CGI).
8. Application Program Interface (API) serves a similar purpose as but has more
advanced functionality than Java Database Connectivity (JDBC).
Chapter 15 Database and the Internet
9. Basic numeric and character data types are often insufficient for today’s Web data.
10. Among the advanced kinds of data found on the Web today are video clips, audio
clips, and graphic images.
11. Due to their fundamental design, relational DBMSs cannot be modified to handle
advanced data types such as video clips, audio clips, and graphic images.
12. Oracle has a category of data types known as the large object (LOB) category that can
handle certain advanced data types.
13. Oracle’s Binary LOB (BLOB) data type is suitable for graphic images, photographs,
video clips, and audio clips.
14. The object/relational DBMS Informix Universal Server handles multimedia and large
text data using “Data Blades.”
15. Spikes in Internet traffic are automatically smoothed out by the Internet and so are not
a performance issue for individual Web sites.
16. The concept of database persistence, which can be accomplished with a query cache,
is designed to improve availability in the Web environment.
17. The concept of clustering and the associated concept of load balancing are designed
to improve security and privacy in the Web environment.
18. Availability in the Web environment can be adversely affected by
telecommunications failures or electrical outages.
19. Scalability refers to the capability of the information system that supports a Web site
growing in size without adversely affecting the operations of the site.
20. Firewalls can be placed between the Web server and the rest of the company’s
information systems.
21. The firewall technique of “proxy computers” is used only in Web server to client
direction.
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22. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is derived from HyperText Markup Language
(HTML).
23. Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is derived from Extensible Markup
Language (XML).
24. XML is capable of indicating the meaning of data.
25. XML provides an independent layer of data definition that is helpful in the electronic
data interchange (EDI) environment.
Problems
1. Central Zoo.
a. Consider Central Zoo’s Web site, which contains its database. Describe, in detail,
the steps that would be taken with both hardware and software to reach the
database when a zoo member or potential sponsor is considering animals to
sponsor.
b. Describe three different uses for non-traditional data types in the Central Zoo
Web site.
Answer
Chapter 15 Database and the Internet
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2. Grand Travel Airlines.
a. Consider Grand Travel Airlines’ Web site, which contains its database. Describe,
in detail, the steps that would be taken with both hardware and software to reach
the database when a customer or passenger wants to make a reservation for a
flight.
b. Describe three different uses for non-traditional data types in the Grand Travel
Airlines Web site.
Answer