Database management is the process for managing information that aids the company’s business operations. It involves storing data, disseminating it to users and applications and editing it when needed and monitoring changes to the data and protecting against data corruption due to unexpected failure. It is a part of a company’s informational infrastructure, which supports decision-making and growth of the company 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 for the storage and retrieve large amounts of data for a broad range of purposes, ranging from calculating inventory to supporting complicated financial accounting and human resources functions.
A database consists of tables that are organized according to a particular arrangement, like one-to-many relationships. It utilizes primary key to identify records and allow cross-references among tables. Each table has a set of fields, referred to as attributes, that represent facts about the data entities. Relational models, which were developed by E. F. “Ted” Codd in the 1970s at IBM and IBM, 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 easier to update data since it eliminates the need to update many sections of the database.
Most DBMSs are able to support different types of databases, offering internal and external levels of organization. The internal level concerns costs, scalability and other operational issues, like the physical layout of the database. The external level is the way the database appears in user interfaces and other applications. It can include a combination of different external views (based on the different data models) and may also include virtual tables that are computed from data that is generic to enhance performance.