Database management is the system for managing information that supports an organization’s business operations. It includes data storage and distribution to users and application programs and then modifying it if necessary as well as monitoring changes to the data and preventing it from becoming corrupted due to unexpected failures. It is an integral part of the entire informational infrastructure of a business that supports decision making as well as corporate growth and compliance with laws such as the GDPR and California Consumer Privacy Act.

The first database systems were invented in the 1960s by Charles Bachman, IBM and others. They evolved into information management systems (IMS) that enabled the storage and retrieve massive amounts of data for a broad range of uses, from calculating inventory to luosunnies.com supporting complicated human resources and financial accounting functions.

A database is a set of tables that store data according to the specific scheme, for example one-to many relationships. It utilizes primary keys to identify records, and allow cross-references between tables. Each table is comprised of a set of fields called attributes that represent facts about data entities. The most well-known type of database currently is a relational model, created by E. F. “Ted” Codd at IBM in the 1970s. This design is based on normalizing the data, making it simpler to use. It is also easier to update data since it does not require the changing of several databases.

Most DBMSs can accommodate various types of databases, by providing different levels of external and internal organization. The internal level concerns costs, scalability and other operational issues, such as the physical layout of the database. The external level focuses on how the database is displayed in user interfaces and other applications. It can include a combination of different external views (based on the different data models) and can also include virtual tables that are constructed from generic data to improve performance.