Database Management Systems Overview

Study Notes

A database is a structured collection of information stored electronically; it's used by organizations to manage their records and help them make decisions. Database Management Systems (DBMS) handle all aspects of managing databases and making sure they work properly. There are several types of DBMS available depending on what you want to do with your database — some common ones include relational, object oriented, hierarchical, network, flat file, and column orientation.

The most important thing about any database is its structure: how everything is arranged so you can find things easily and keep track of updates. To do this, each part of the database has a name called a record identifier (RID), which tells you where something is in the whole system. Information within rows is divided into fields, while columns contain different types of information like names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.. When someone asks for specific pieces of information from the database, programs look up RIDs to get just those parts.

Databases have three main ways they interact with people who need information: queries, transactions, and reports. Queries ask questions about what's inside a particular database table and return answers back to users. Transactions take multiple operations from a user, process them together, and commit changes when necessary. Reports summarize large amounts of data into tables or graphs showing important trends over time. Databases also support applications best suited for certain jobs — for example medical databases might focus on patient diagnoses, prescriptions, and hospital admissions.

In terms of security, there are two kinds of protection against unauthorized access: physical and logical. Physical protection involves keeping computers safe from theft or damage, while logical protection covers passwords and encryption. Different types of databases require different levels of these safeguards. For instance, highly sensitive databases with critical information would definitely need both high levels of physical and logical safeguarding.

Description

Learn about the basics of databases and Database Management Systems (DBMS). Understand the structure of databases, record identifiers, fields, and columns. Explore how databases interact with users through queries, transactions, and reports, as well as the importance of security measures in protecting database information.