What Is Database Management

Introduction

Database management is a process of how data is managed by digital software systems including how data is stored, organized, maintained, retrieved, and destroyed. The digital software systems that are used to manage data are called database management systems.

We cannot understand database management without understanding data and databases.

Data is the foundation of the digital world and computers. The word “data” was first time used in the 1940s and it means “transmissible and storable computer information”. In other words, data is raw information stored in some form that can be converted into sensible information. Making sense of data is information. In real-world representation, data represent some characteristics of objects. For example, data related to cars represent characteristics.

 

Database management

Data can be stored physically in different media and these media are called data storage. Some examples of storage media include hard drives, solid-state drives, CD/DVDs, and flash drives. Data can also be organized digitally in different types of data sources and documents such as databases, documents such as word, excel, text files, and other data source types.

A database is the collection of data or records organized in software systems that can easily be read, written, and managed. Database management is a process of managing data including storing, accessing, updating, and deleting.

Database management

Database management is a process of managing data in such a way that it can easily be accessed and managed. Database management also includes data collection, storage, maintenance, deletion, and planning of scalability, availability, accessibility, and reliability. The key tasks of database management include the following,

• Collection of data
• Storage of data
• Adding, updating, and deleting data
• Indexing and searching data
• Planning for storage and capacity and future growth
• Archiving, backup, and recovery of data
• Monitoring the performance
• Maintenance and upgrades

The technical team who is responsible for database management is called database administrators or DBAs. DBAs in an organization are responsible for configuring hardware and servers, storage, networking and installing database systems or databases. Once set up, DBAs are also responsible for managing database servers.

Data Lifecycle Management

The data lifecycle starts with data collection and the creation of data. Once data is collected, it is stored in a database or data store. Once data is stored, it gets used via various data access methods and used by software applications. Once data is read and displayed, it may also get updated.

As you can see from the above image, the data lifecycle management includes the following,

• Data collection
• Data storage
• Data usage
• Data maintenance
• Data Destruction

Database management systems

Software systems that are used for database management are called database management systems or DBMS. There are hundreds of database management systems in the world. Some of the most popular database management systems are Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB.

Types of database management systems

There are various types of database management systems. Each of these database types has its own purpose and they are designed to store and manage data in different ways. The popular database management systems are the following,

• Relational databases
• NoSQL databases
• Hierarchical databases
• Network databases
• Object-oriented databases
• Graph databases
• ER model databases
• Document databases

Here is a detailed article on these database types, Types of Database Management Systems.

Most popular database management systems

Databases or database systems have been around for decades since the early days of data storage. Here is the list of the most popular databases in the world based on several parameters including revenue, number of users, customers, their size, and so on.

Oracle developed by Oracle Corporation is the most popular relational database system (RDBMS). Not only Oracle is an RDBMS, but also provides functionality for Cloud, Document Store, Graph DBMS, Key-value storage, BLOG, and PDF Storage.

MySQL is the world’s most popular database when it comes to a number of applications using a database. MySQL is open-source and free. MySQL was acquired by Oracle as a part of Sun Microsystems' acquisition in 2009.

SQL Server database developed by Microsoft is one of the most popular databases in the world. Initially launched in 1989 and written in C, and C++, SQL Server is now widely used among major companies. SQL Server is also a part of Microsoft’s Azure cloud as Azure SQL Server. The current version of SQL Server is SQL Server 2019.

Read more here, Most Popular Databases In the World

Role of Database management Systems

Let us look at a typical web application. A typical web application is one or more front-ends such as a website and mobile app. There is a middleware API or service layer and there is a backend where data is stored in one or more databases and other data sources.

Database management systems are usually installed and reside on backend servers. The hardware machine that hosts a database management system is called a database server. There is a connection established between a database server and other software applications that access data via APIs and services.

The technical person who is responsible for installing, managing and upgrading database systems is called a database administrator (DBA). DBAs are also responsible for monitoring database activities and securing databases.

Summary

Database management systems are a common part of any enterprise. There are different types of database management systems that serve different purpose and stores data in different formats. In this article, we learned basics of database management and various database management systems.

Read more,

• Types of Database Management Systems
• Most Popular Databases in the World