DatabASES AND THE INTERNET

1. DatabASES AND THE INTERNET … along with suggestions on course projects

2. 1. Data & the web: the technology • Web servers: processes forms and returns HTML content • Database services: connecting database servers to a web server • Directory, security, and authentication services for inside and outside the intranet • Email – moving msgs from server to intranet or Internet • FTP – moving files from server to intranet or Internet • Firewalls – to manage out-of-intranet communication • News groups – posting on bulletin boards • Web activity load balancing

3. Web server extensions • Static pages do not require access to db servers • Dynamic pages do require this • Common Gateway Interface (CGI) • CGI programs can be written in any compiled language, and they accept requests from forms • Stored on server

4. Web client extensions • Browser plugins • Activex – microsoft technology that supports data manipulation in the browser • HTML5 local data store, can be implemented with SQLite • AJAX, for minimizing communication between server and client • Silverlight and Flash Builder – runs the core of a browser (with Javascript and Actionsript) • Cookies to ID a returning web visitor

5. Interfacing a web and a db server • Web servers, such as Apache, IIS, Tomcat, Glassfish • Server-side scripting, such as PHP

6. Web services • Supports non-interactive database access • Uses XML, HTTP, etc. • Examples are Google and Amazon • Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UUID) for creating distributed registries of web services • Web Services Description Language (WSDL) • Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is XML based and is a protocol that allows apps to send messages to each other over the Internet

7. 2. The web and data: Security • The complexity of server-side technology, along with its heterogeneity • The need to allow dynamic web page support, email, ftp, etc. • The need to support services • Access to databases from multiple sources on either side of the firewall

8. … continued • The tendency to loosen firewalls when things don’t work • Email attachments • Rapid rate of change of software and content and services • The use of open source and legacy dbs that are poorly understood

9. Another security issue • Web and database servers are used to support newer sorts of data and service access • Warehousing data (usually, but not always inside the firewall) • Mining data, which is often outside the firewall • Specialized document retrieval systems • Specialized advanced media retrieval systems • Integration of heterogeneous data • Sharing of namespaces, schema fragments, and query code (often in XML technologies)

10. … continued • All of these can be layered and span multiple sites • Such as hierarchical data marts • Mediator based integration hierarchies • A wide class of people, inside and outside of the organization must have access to data (such as content taggers)

11. 3. Data Privacy • HIPAA • Authorization of users and applications • Passwords • Two factor (like a password or code and a physical code) • Mediated (using a third party) • Encryption • Storage • Transmission

12. 4. Web money • Goods atomicity • Or the promise of… • The use of an intermediary to hold money and supply goods • Electronic cash • Anonymous buyers • Small purchases • No exposure of credit cards or account numbers • Confidence of sellers that money exists • Based on “tokens”