Database management is a system of coordinating the information that supports a company’s business operations. It involves storing data and distribution to users and application programs, modifying it as necessary as well as monitoring changes to the data and preventing the data from becoming corrupted by unexpected failures. It is a part of the overall infrastructure of a business that assists in decision making as well as corporate growth and compliance with laws like the GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.

The first database systems were invented in the 1960s by Charles Bachman, IBM and others. They developed into information management systems (IMS) which enabled the storage and retrieve large amounts of information for a range of purposes, from calculating inventory to supporting complex hgf-billeder.eu financial accounting and human resources functions.

A database is a set of tables that are organized according to a particular pattern, for example, one-to-many relationships. It uses the primary key to identify records and allow cross-references between tables. Each table contains a number of fields, known as attributes, which provide information about the data entities. The most well-known type of database today is a relational model, created by E. F. “Ted” Codd at IBM in the 1970s. This design is based upon normalizing data to make it more user-friendly. It also makes it easier to update data since it eliminates the need to change different sections of the database.

Most DBMSs are able to support different types of databases, offering internal and external levels of organization. The internal level addresses costs, scalability, and other operational concerns, such as the layout of the physical storage. The external level is how the database is displayed in user interfaces and other applications. It could include a mix of different external views (based on different data models) and can also include virtual tables which are generated from generic data in order to improve performance.