Database management is a system of managing the information that supports a company’s business operations. It includes data storage, distributing it to applications and users and modifying it as needed and monitoring changes to the data and preventing it from getting damaged by unexpected failures. It is a part of the overall infrastructure of a business that assists in decision making and corporate growth as well as compliance with laws like the GDPR and 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) that made it possible to store and retrieve huge amounts of data for a wide range of purposes, from calculating inventory to supporting complicated human resources and financial accounting functions.
A database consists of tables that store data according to a particular schema, such as one-to many relationships. It utilizes primary keys to identify records and allow cross-references between tables. Each table contains a number of fields, known as attributes, that provide information about the data entities. The most well-known type of database that is currently in use is a relational model developed by E. F. “Ted” Codd at IBM in the 1970s. The concept is based on normalizing data to make it easier to use. It is also easier to update data since it doesn’t require the modification of several databases.
The majority of DBMSs support a variety of databases, offering internal and external levels of organization. The internal level is focused on costs, scalability and other operational issues, such as the physical layout of the database. The external level is the way the database appears in user interfaces and other applications. It could comprise a combination of various external views (based on the various data models) and may include virtual tables that are constructed from generic data to improve performance.
