Mobile Databases

1
Mobile Databases

• Anywhere Access

2
Why Mobile Database?

• Move to a more mobile workforce
• Demand for access to information anywhere and
  anytime

3
Who Uses Mobile Databases?

• People who work in remote locations like branch
  offices, on the road, or even out of their homes
  need to have access to their server databases
  through mobile devices like notebook computers,
  smart phones, and PDAs.

4
Who uses mobile data bases?

• Traveling salespeople to download product
  information and upload orders.
• The IMB of the Southern Baptist Convention uses
  them to access multimedia around the world when
  they speak at public relations events.
• Scientist data from field trips around the
  world may be stored and accessed in search for
  new types of plants from a mobile base camp.

5
Some problems with mobile databases

• Data inconsistency because the mobile device is
  not a constant part of the
  network.
• Low battery life for many of the mobile devices
  that use mobile databases
• Problems synchronizing data form mobile device
  with the server databse
• Data loss if the mobile device has a major failure

6
Ways to solve these problems

• Mobile database users must update with the server
  in a timely manner
• Updates must be short so as to use as little
  battery life as possible
• Broadcast data for data that may be used by many
  users at the same time
• Again the mobile database users must update with
  the server in a timely manner
• When synchronizing a database the tables must be
  created on the server database as well as the
  mobile device to avoid conflicts that may arise
  causing the synchronization to fail.

7

• An important thing to ask yourself before you
  buy a mobile device for use as a mobile database
  is
• What are the limitations of the device and the
  operating system that you choose to control the
  device?

8
Products

• As databases go mobile on phones, PDAs, and
  handhelds, computer managers have found ways of
  how to fit them into the enterprise.
• For instance to handle email, voice messaging and
  limited word processing.

9
What is the solution to mobile database?

• Some of the products used by these companies
  include
• Sybase Inc.s SQL Anywhere Studio 8
• IBMs DB2everyplace 7 which offers
• Powerful mobile relational database
• Manageability
• Integration with existing data sources
• Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Windows CE edition and
  Oracle9i Lite

10

• Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP2
• SQLBase from Gupta Technologies LLC of Redwood
  Shores, California,
• HanDBase from DDH software Inc. of Lake Worth
  Florida

11

• Sybase Adaptative Server Enterprise 12.5
• MySQl 4.0

12
Security

• Mobile data security problems
• Interception of data transmissions
• Unauthorized access
• Administrative attacks
• Lost devices

13
Security

• Ways to solve security problems
• Encrypting data or data communications
• Password-protecting devices
• User login mechanisms
• Device security policies

14
Security

• SSL - Secure Socket Layer
• DESX Data Encryption Standard XORed
• Variant of DES
• Input plaintext is bitwise XORed with additional
  64 bits of key material
• Output is bitwise XORed with 64 bits of key
  material

15
Security
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Transport-layer Security

• Transport-layer security is implemented using
  digital certificates and RSA encryption
  technology
• Messages sent between client and server encrypted
  using 128-bit cipher

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Questions

• What are the two main encryption protocols used
  in mobile databases?
• SSL
• DESX

18
Questions

• Which of the following is a problem with mobile
  databases?
• Data inconsistency
• Low battery life
• Problems synchronizing data
• All of the above
• All of the above

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Resources

• www.mobile-dba.com/docs/MDBA-pres.pdf
• www.rsasecurity/rsalabs/faq
• www.x5.net/faqs/crypto/q74.html
• www.sybase.com
• www.pcmag.com
• www.dbmsmag.com

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Resources (cont.)

• www.ignou.ac.in/virtualcampus/adit/course/cst302/b
  lock2/cst302-b12-ul.htm
• www.gcn.com