Database management is a system for managing data that supports an organization’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 it from becoming corrupted by unexpected failures. It is an integral part of the overall infrastructure of a business that assists in decision making and corporate growth as well as compliance with laws such as the GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.

In the 1960s, Charles Bachman and IBM among others came up with the first database systems. They evolved into information management systems (IMS) that allowed for the storage and retrieve large amounts data for a variety of applications, from the calculation of inventory to supporting complex financial accounting and human resources functions.

A database consists of tables that arrange data according to some arrangement, like one-to-many relationships. It uses primary keys to identify records and allows cross-references between tables. Each table has a set of fields, called attributes, that contain information about the entities that comprise the data. Relational models, invented by E. F. “Ted” Codd in the 1970s at IBM and IBM, are among the most widely used type of database currently. This design is based on normalizing data to make it more user-friendly. It is also simpler to update data because it does not require the changing of various databases.

Most DBMSs support multiple database types by providing different levels of internal and external organization. The internal level is concerned with the cost, scalability, and other operational issues like the physical layout of petrich0r.io the database. The external level determines how the database is represented in user interfaces and other applications. It can include a mixture of various external views based on different data models. It can include virtual tables that are computed using generic data to improve the performance.