Database management is a method of managing information that supports a company’s business operations. It involves storing and distributing data it to applications and users and editing it when needed and monitoring changes to data and protecting against data corruption due to unexpected failure. It is a part of the overall informational infrastructure of a company which supports decision-making as well as corporate growth and compliance with laws like the GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.
The first database systems were created in the 1960s by Charles Bachman, IBM and others. They developed into information management systems (IMS), which allowed huge amounts of data to be stored and retrieved for a variety of purposes. From calculating inventory to aiding complex financial accounting functions as well as human resource functions.
A database consists of tables that are organized according to some 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, called attributes, that represent facts about the data entities. The most widely used kind of database is a relational model, created by E. F. “Ted” Codd at IBM in the 1970s. This model is based upon normalizing the data, making it more easy to use. It is also simpler to update data because it does not require changing several databases.
Most DBMSs support various types of databases, by providing different levels of external and internal organization. The internal level deals with cost, scalability and other operational concerns, such as the layout of the database’s physical storage. The external level is the representation of the database in user interfaces and applications. It could include a mix of external views based on different data models and could include virtual tables that are calculated using generic data to improve the performance.
