Database Management Basics

Database management is the method to manage information that is essential to the organization’s business processes. It involves storing data and distribution to users and application programs and then modifying it if necessary, monitoring changes in the data and preventing it from getting damaged due to unexpected failure. It is a part of a company’s overall informational infrastructure that supports decision-making and growth of the company as well as compliance with laws like the GDPR and the 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 allowed huge amounts of data to be stored and retrieved for a variety of reasons. From calculating inventory, to aiding complex financial accounting functions and human resource functions.

A database consists of a set of tables that store data according to a certain arrangement, like one-to-many relationships. It utilizes primary key to identify records, and also allows cross-references among tables. Each table is comprised of a variety of fields, known as attributes, that provide information about the entities that comprise the data. Relational models, developed by E. F. “TedCodd Codd in the 1970s at IBM, are the most widely used type of database currently. This design is based on normalizing the data, making it simpler to use. It is also simpler to update data because it doesn’t require changing various databases.

Most DBMSs can support multiple types of databases by providing different internal and external levels of organization. The internal level is concerned with cost, scalability, as well as other operational issues, like the physical layout of the database. The external level is the way the database appears in user interfaces and other applications. It may include a mix of external views based on different data models. It can include virtual tables that are computed with generic data to enhance the euromedica.pe performance.