Database Management Systems

Running Head : Database Management Systems

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Definition

Database management systems are computer software that converts data into a unified format by taking derived data to create new fields merging field , summarizing and filtering data the process of reading data from operational system . A database management system is a collection of programs that enables people to store , modify and extract information from a database

There are many different types of DMSs , ranging from small systems that run on personal computers to huge systems

that run on mainframes Examples of database management systems software are oracle , Microsoft Access , Microsoft SQL server , Firebird , and Sybase Adaptive server enterprise (Date C , 1995

What Database Management Systems can do

The four common types of organizations are the hierarchical relational , network , and object models . Inverted lists and other methods are also used . A given database management system may provide one or more of the four models . The optimal structure depends on the natural organization of the application 's data , and on the application 's requirements (which include transaction rate (speed , maintainability reliability , scalability and cost (Date C , 1995

There are several approaches currently in use , with hierarchical network , relational , and object examples . Essentially , the modeling languages ensure the ability of the databases to communicate with the DBMs and thus operate on the system (Elmasri et al 1994

Data structures are also administered by the DBMs . Data that are organized by this function include , individual records or pros fields and their definitions , and objects such as visual media . Data structures are what allow DBMs to interact with the data without causing damage to the integrity of the data itself (Elmasri et al 1994

Another component of DBMs software is the data query language . This element in involved in maintaining the security of the database , by monitoring the use of login data , the assignment of access rights and privileges , and the definition of the criteria that must be employed to add data to the system . The data query language works with the data structures to make sure it is harder to input irrelevant data into any of the databases in use on the system . A mechanism that allows for transactions is an essential basic for any DBMs . This helps to allow multiple and concurrent access to the database by multiple users prevents the manipulation of one record by two users at the same time and preventing the creation of duplicate records (Atenzi

, 1999

Features and Abilities of Database Management Systems

Data integrity- The DBMs can ensure that no more than one user can update the same record at the same time . It can keep duplicate records of the database , for example no two customers with the same customer number can be entered (Barry et al 2002

Data security- DBMs prevents unauthorized users from updating or viewing the database through the use of passwords . For example an employ database can contain all the data about an individual employee , but one group of users...