Database Buffer

In our previous section, we learned about various types of data storage. But, the goal of a database system is that a minimum number of transfers should take place between the disk and memory. To do so, it can reduce the number of disk accesses by keeping as many blocks in main memory. So, when the user wants to store the data, it can directly search in the main memory, and there will be no requirement of accessing the disk. However, it is difficult to keep so many blocks in main memory; we need to manage the allocation of the space available in the main memory for the storage of blocks.

A database buffer is a temporary storage area in the main memory. It allows storing the data temporarily when moving from one place to another. A database buffer stores a copy of disk blocks. But, the version of block copies on the disk may be older than the version in the buffer.

What is Buffer Manager

• A Buffer Manager is responsible for allocating space to the buffer in order to store data into the buffer.
• If a user request a particular block and the block is available in the buffer, the buffer manager provides the block address in the main memory.
• If the block is not available in the buffer, the buffer manager allocates the block in the buffer.
• If free space is not available, it throws out some existing blocks from the buffer to allocate the required space for the new block.
• The blocks which are thrown are written back to the disk only if they are recently modified when writing on the disk.
• If the user requests such thrown-out blocks, the buffer manager reads the requested block from the disk to the buffer and then passes the address of the requested block to the user in the main memory.
• However, the internal actions of the buffer manager are not visible to the programs that may create any problem in disk-block requests. The buffer manager is just like a virtual machine.

Techniques Used by the Buffer Manager

To manage memory efficiently and improve database performance, the buffer manager uses several techniques for handling data blocks in memory and on disk.

Buffer Replacement Strategy

If no space is left in the buffer, it is required to remove an existing block from the buffer before allocating the new one. The various operating system uses the LRU (least recently used) scheme. In LRU, the block that was least recently used is removed from the buffer and written back to the disk. Such type of replacement strategy is known as Buffer Replacement Strategy.

Pinned Blocks

If the user wants to recover any database system from the crashes, it is essential to restrict the time when a block is written back to the disk. In fact, most recovery systems do not allow the blocks to be written on the disk if the block updation being in progress. Such types of blocks that are not allowed to be written on the disk are known as pinned blocks. Luckily, many operating systems do not support the pinned blocks.

Forced Output of Blocks

In some cases, it becomes necessary to write the block back to the disk even though the space occupied by the block in the buffer is not required. When such type of write is required, it is known as the forced output of a block. It is because sometimes the data stored on the buffer may get lost in some system crashes, but the data stored on the disk usually does not get affected due to any disk crash.