Database Management Basics

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Database management is a system of coordinating the information that supports a business’s operations. It involves storing data, distributing it to applications and users and editing it when needed and monitoring changes to data and making sure that data integrity is not compromised due to unexpected failure. It is a part of the overall infrastructure of a company that aids in decision-making and corporate growth as well as compliance with laws such as the GDPR and California Consumer Privacy Act.

In the 1960s, Charles Bachman and IBM among others came up with the first database systems. They evolved into information management systems (IMS), which allowed massive amounts of data to be stored and retrieved for a variety of purposes. From calculating inventory, to aiding complicated financial accounting functions, and human resource functions.

A database consists of tables that are organized according to a certain arrangement, like one-to-many relationships. It uses primary key to identify records, and also allows cross-references among tables. Each table has a set of attributes, or fields, which provide information about data entities. Relational models, developed by E. F. “Ted” Codd in the 1970s at IBM and IBM, are the most popular database type currently. The design is based on normalizing the data, making it easier to use. It is also easier to update data since it doesn’t require the modification of several databases.

Most DBMSs can support multiple types of databases, offering internal and external levels of organization. The internal level deals with cost, scalability and other operational concerns such as the design of the database’s physical storage. The external level is how the database is presented in user interfaces and other applications. It can include a mixture of different external views that are based on different data models. It may include virtual table that are calculated using generic data in order to improve the performance.