Database management is a method of managing the information that supports a company’s business operations. It includes data storage and distribution to users and application programs and modifying it as needed, monitoring changes in the data and preventing it from getting damaged due to unexpected failure. It is a component of the informational infrastructure of a company which supports decision-making as well as corporate growth and compliance with laws like the GDPR and California Consumer Privacy Act.
The first database systems were developed in the 1960s by Charles Bachman, IBM and others. They evolved into the information management systems (IMS) that allowed for the storage and retrieve large amounts of data for a broad range of purposes, from calculating inventory to supporting complicated financial accounting and human resources 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 also allows cross-references between tables. Each table has a collection of attributes or fields that contain information about data entities. The most popular type of database currently is a relational model created by E. F. “Ted” Codd at IBM in the 1970s. The concept is based on normalizing data to make it easier to use. It is also easier to update data since it doesn’t require changing many sections of the databases.
Most DBMSs can accommodate multiple types of databases through different levels of internal and external organization. The internal level addresses costs, scalability, and other operational issues, such as the layout of the database’s physical storage. The external level determines how the database is presented in user interfaces and other applications. It may include a mix of different external views based on different data models and may include virtual table that are calculated using generic data in order to improve the performance.