Database Management Basics

Database management is a system for managing information that supports the organization’s business processes. It involves storing data, disseminating it to users and applications, editing it as needed, monitoring data changes, and stopping data corruption due unexpected failure. It is a part of the overall infrastructure of a company that aids in decision-making in corporate growth, as well as compliance with laws like the GDPR and California Consumer Privacy Act.

The first database systems were created in the 1960s by Charles Bachman, IBM and others. They evolved into information management systems (IMS) which made it possible to store and retrieve massive amounts of data for a broad range of applications, from the calculation of inventory to supporting complex financial accounting and human resources functions.

A database is tables that store data in accordance with a specific arrangement, like one-to-many relationships. It uses primary key to identify records, and also allows cross-references between tables. Each table is comprised of a variety of fields, referred to as attributes, which provide information about the data entities. Relational models, created by E. F. “Ted” Codd in the 1970s at IBM as a database, are the most popular database type currently. This design is based upon normalizing data to make it easier to use. It is also simpler to update data because it does not require changing certain sections of the database.

Most DBMSs are able to support different types of databases, offering internal and external levels of organization. The internal level is concerned with cost, scalability and other operational concerns such as the layout of the database’s physical storage. The external level is how the database is represented in user interfaces and other applications. It can include a mixture of different external views based on different data models. It also can include virtual tables that are computed using generic data to improve the performance.

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