A database management system (DBMS) is a software package designed to define, manipulate, retrieve and manage data in a database. A DBMS generally manipulates the data itself, the data format, field names, record structure and file structure. It also defines rules to validate and manipulate this data.
A DBMS relieves users of framing programs for data maintenance. Fourth-generation query languages, such as SQL, are used along with the DBMS package to interact with a database.
DATABASE MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS
- MySQL
- SQL Server
- Oracle
- dBASE
- FoxPro
ADVANTAGES OF DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Reducing Data Redundancy
The file based data management systems contained multiple files that were stored in many different locations in a system or even across multiple systems. Because of this, there were sometimes multiple copies of the same file which lead to data redundancy.
This is prevented in a database as there is a single database and any change in it is reflected immediately. Because of this, there is no chance of encountering duplicate data.
Sharing of Data
In a database, the users of the database can share the data among themselves. There are various levels of authorisation to access the data, and consequently the data can only be shared based on the correct authorisation protocols being followed.
Many remote users can also access the database simultaneously and share the data between themselves.
Data Integrity
Data integrity means that the data is accurate and consistent in the database. Data Integrity is very important as there are multiple databases in a DBMS. All of these databases contain data that is visible to multiple users. So it is necessary to ensure that the data is correct and consistent in all the databases and for all the users.
Data Security
Data Security is vital concept in a database. Only authorised users should be allowed to access the database and their identity should be authenticated using a username and password. Unauthorised users should not be allowed to access the database under any circumstances as it violates the integrity constraints.
Privacy
The privacy rule in a database means only the authorized users can access a database according to its privacy constraints. There are levels of database access and a user can only view the data he is allowed to. For example – In social networking sites, access constraints are different for different accounts a user may want to access.
Backup and Recovery
Database Management System automatically takes care of backup and recovery. The users don’t need to backup data periodically because this is taken care of by the DBMS. Moreover, it also restores the database after a crash or system failure to its previous condition.
Data Consistency
Data consistency is ensured in a database because there is no data redundancy. All data appears consistently across the database and the data is same for all the users viewing the database. Moreover, any changes made to the database are immediately reflected to all the users and there is no data inconsistency.
