Database management is the process for managing information that supports an organization’s business operations. It involves storing data, distributing it to users and applications, editing it as needed and monitoring changes to the data and protecting against data corruption due to unexpected failure. It is an integral part of the entire informational infrastructure of a company that aids in decision-making, corporate growth, and compliance with laws like the GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.
The first database systems were developed in the 1960s by Charles Bachman, IBM and others. They developed into information management castamia.com systems (IMS), which allowed large amounts of data to be stored and retrieved for a range of purposes. From calculating inventory, to supporting complex financial accounting functions as well as human resource functions.
A database is a collection of tables which organize data in accordance with an established pattern, such as one-to-many relationships. It utilizes primary keys to identify records and allows cross-references between tables. Each table has a collection of attributes or fields that contain information about data entities. The most popular type of database today is a relational model created by E. F. “Ted” Codd at IBM in the 1970s. This design is based upon normalizing data to make it easier to use. It also makes it simpler to update data, avoiding the need to modify many sections of the database.
The majority of DBMSs are able to support different types of databases by offering different levels of external and internal organization. The internal level concerns cost, scalability, as well as other operational issues, such as the physical layout of the database. The external level is the representation of the database on user interfaces and applications. It can include a combination of different external views (based on the different data models) and may include virtual tables that are computed using generic data to improve performance.
