Database management is a system for managing data that supports the company’s business operations. It involves storing and distributing data it to applications and users, editing it as needed, monitoring data changes, and protecting against data corruption due to unexpected failure. It is one component of an organization’s overall informational infrastructure, which supports decision-making and growth of the company as well as compliance with laws such as the GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.
In the 1960s, Charles Bachman and IBM along with other companies developed the first database systems. They evolved into information management systems (IMS) that allowed the storage and retrieve huge amounts of data for a variety of uses, from calculating inventory to supporting complex human resources and financial accounting functions.
A database is a collection of tables that organizes data according to the specific scheme, for example one-to many relationships. It uses the primary key to identify records and allow cross-references among tables. Each table has a collection of attributes or fields that provide information about data entities. The most widely used 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 more user-friendly. It is also simpler to update data because it doesn’t require changing certain sections of the database.
The majority of DBMSs support a variety of databases by offering different internal and external levels of organization. The internal level focuses on cost, scalability and other operational concerns, such as the design of the database’s physical storage. The external level is the representation of the database on user interfaces and applications. It could include a mix of various external views based on different models of data and may also include virtual tables that are computed with generic data to enhance the performance.