Database management is the system to manage information that is essential to the business operations of an organization. It includes data storage and distribution to users and applications and then modifying it if necessary and monitoring the changes in the data and preventing it from getting damaged due to unexpected failure. It is a part of an organization’s overall informational infrastructure that supports decision-making and growth for the business as well as 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 evolved into information management systems (IMS) which allowed huge amounts of data to be stored and retrieved for a range of reasons. From calculating inventory to supporting complex financial accounting functions as well as human resource functions.
A database consists of a set of tables that arrange data according to some pattern, for example, one-to-many relationships. It uses primary keys to identify records and permit cross-references between tables. Each table contains a number of fields, known as attributes, that represent facts about the data entities. The most popular 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 simpler to use. It also makes it easier to update data without the necessity of changing various databases.
Most DBMSs can accommodate multiple database types by providing different levels of internal and external organization. The internal level is focused on the cost, scalability, and other operational issues like the physical layout of the database. The external level is the representation of the database on user interfaces and applications. It can include a mixture of different external views that are based on different data models. It also can include virtual tables that are calculated using generic data in order to improve the performance.