Page: 1 – Introduction & Failure Classification

Why Recovery?

  • Computers fail (power cut, hardware crash, software bug, fire, sabotage).

  • Database must maintain ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability).

  • Goal: Bring DB back to consistent state, with minimum downtime.

Types of Failures:

  1. Transaction Failure

    • Logical errors → e.g., invalid input, divide by zero, resource limit exceeded.

    • System errors → e.g., deadlock (transactions waiting forever).

  2. System Crash

    • Main memory lost (volatile).

    • Disk data safe (nonvolatile).

    • Based on fail-stop assumption → crash stops system but doesn’t corrupt disk.

  3. Disk Failure

    • Physical disk damage (head crash, transfer error).

    • Recovery: Mirroring, backups (DVD, tape, cloud)

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