Database management is a system of managing the information that supports a company’s business operations. It involves storing data, distributing it to users and applications making edits as needed and monitoring changes to data and preventing data corruption due to unexpected failure. It’s a component of a company’s overall informational infrastructure which aids in decision making and corporate growth, as well as compliance with laws like the GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.
The first database systems were invented in the 1960s by Charles Bachman, IBM and others. They evolved into information management systems (IMS) which allowed large amounts 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 is a set of tables that store data in accordance with a specific scheme, such as one-to-many relationships. It uses primary keys to identify records and allows cross-references between tables. Each table has a variety of fields, known as attributes, that represent facts about the entities that comprise the data. Relational models, which were developed by E. F. “TedCodd Codd in the 1970s at IBM as a database, are the most widely used type of database currently. The design is based on normalizing the data, making it easier to use. It also makes it simpler to update data by avoiding the need to modify different sections of the database.
The majority of DBMSs support a variety of databases by providing different internal and external levels of organization. The internal level is focused on the cost, scalability, and other operational issues, like the physical layout of the database. The external level is the way the database is displayed in user interfaces and other applications. It could comprise a mix of different external views that are based on different data models. It also can include virtual tables that are calculated with generic data to enhance the performance.
