Database management is the process to manage information that is essential to the business operations of an organization. It involves storing and distributing data it to applications and users and editing it as required and monitoring changes to the data and preventing data corruption due to unexpected failure. It is a part of the entire informational infrastructure of a business that supports decision making and corporate growth as well as compliance with laws like the GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.
In the 1960s, Charles Bachman and IBM among others developed the first database systems. They developed into information management systems (IMS), which allowed large amounts data to be stored and retrieved for a range of reasons. From calculating inventory to aiding complicated financial accounting functions, and human resource functions.
A database is a set of tables that arrange data in accordance with a certain scheme, like one-to many relationships. It uses primary keys to identify records and allows cross-references between tables. Each table is comprised of a variety of fields, also known as attributes, which provide information about the 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 on normalizing data to make it easier to use. It is also simpler to update data since it doesn’t require changing many sections of the databases.
The majority of DBMSs support a variety of databases, offering internal and external levels of organization. The internal level is concerned with cost, scalability and other operational concerns like the layout of the physical storage. The external level is how the database is presented in user interfaces and other applications. It could comprise a mix of different external views that are based on different data models. It could include virtual tables that are computed using generic data to improve the performance.