4. Student Activity - Group 4 - Importance of Data in TP




Importance of data
An organisation relies on its TPS and the data it processes. It is important for organisations to have procedures in place to ensure that data is secure, accurate and valid.

Data security

Data security involves a series of safeguards to protect the data. Data is under threat of being stolen, destroyed or maliciously modified. There is a greater risk when the data is accessible to multiple users in a real-time transaction processing system. The first line of defence is to only allow access to data to authorised people using passwords, personal objects and biometric devices. 

However, some people are capable of evading these procedures. Further safeguards to protect data
involve data encryption and firewalls.
  • Encryption is the process of coding data, and decryption is the process of changing it back. It is the most effective way to achieve data security during the transmission of data. Data is coded, transmitted, and then converted back to its original form.
  • Firewalls are used on networks to verify and authenticate all incoming data.  A firewall checks the password of anyone trying to access a network. Firewalls are expensive to install and maintain.On large systems, more than one firewall is necessary because barriers need to be placed at all critical points.

Data accuracy

Accuracy of data is the extent to which it is free from errors. Data entered into a TPS is not always accurate. Errors can be caused by mistakes in gathering the data, mistakes in data entry, a mismatch of the data and the person, or out-of-date information. 

For example, if the price of a product has been entered incorrectly into the database, then customers buying that product will be charged the wrong price. This could be very costly to the organisation. Opportunities need to exist to check and change data if it is wrong.

Data validation is used to check the entry of data. A well-designed TPS checks each transaction for easily detectable errors, such as missing data, data values that are obviously too high or too low, data values that are inconsistent with other data in the database, and data in the wrong format. Data validation is carried out using range checks, list checks, type checks and check digits as discussed in Chapter 2.

Data integrity

Data integrity describes the reliability of the data. It involves the accuracy, currency and relevance of the data. Data integrity in real-time transaction processing is provided when the transaction passes the ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability) test.

  • Atomicity occurs when all of the steps involved in a transaction are completed successfully as a group. If any step fails, no other step should be completed. If the first step succeeds, then the second step must succeed; otherwise, the entire transaction is abandoned. If some operations succeed and others fail, there is no atomicity.
  • Consistency occurs when a transaction successfully transforms the system and the database from one valid state to another. Consistency in a TPS stems from the correct application programming, such as always debiting and crediting the same amount.
  • Isolation occurs if a transaction is processed concurrently with other transactions and still behaves as if it were the only transaction executing the system. Transactions must not interfere with each other’s database updates. 
  • Durability occurs if all the changes that a transaction makes to the database become permanent when the transaction is committed.
These ACID properties guarantee that a transaction is never incomplete, the data is never inconsistent, concurrent transactions are independent, and the effects of a transaction are permanent.





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