Database management system

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A Database Management System (DBMS) is a set of computer programs that controls the
creation, maintenance, and the use of a database. It allows organizations to place control of
database development in the hands of database administrators (DBAs) and other specialists. A
DBMS is a system software package that helps the use of integrated collection of data records
and files known as databases. It allows different user application programs to easily access the
same database. DBMSs may use any of a variety of database models, such as the network model
or relational model. In large systems, a DBMS allows users and other software to store and
retrieve data in a structured way. Instead of having to write computer programs to extract
information, user can ask simple questions in a query language. Thus, many DBMS packages
provide Fourth-generation programming language (4GLs) and other application development
features. It helps to specify the logical organization for a database and access and use the
information within a database. It provides facilities for controlling data access, enforcing data
integrity, managing concurrency, and restoring the database from backups. A DBMS also
provides the ability to logically present database information to users.

Contents
[hide]

 1 Overview
 2 History
o 2.1 1960s Navigational DBMS
o 2.2 1970s Relational DBMS
o 2.3 End 1970s SQL DBMS
o 2.4 1980s Object Oriented Databases
 3 DBMS building blocks
o 3.1 Components of DBMS
o 3.2 Modeling language
o 3.3 Data structure
o 3.4 Database query language
o 3.5 Transaction mechanism
 4 DBMS topics
o 4.1 External, Logical and Internal view
o 4.2 DBMS features and capabilities
o 4.3 DBMS simple definition
 o 4.4 Meta-data repository
o 4.5 Current trends
 5 See also
 6 References

[edit] Overview
A DBMS is a set of software programs that controls the organization, storage, management, and
retrieval of data in a database. DBMSs are categorized according to their data structures or types.
The DBMS accepts requests for data from an application program and instructs the operating
system to transfer the appropriate data. The queries and responses must be submitted and
received according to a format that conforms to one or more applicable protocols. When a
DBMS is used, information systems can be changed much more easily as the organization's
information requirements change. New categories of data can be added to the database without
disruption to the existing system.

Database servers are computers that hold the actual databases and run only the DBMS and
related software. Database servers are usually multiprocessor computers, with generous memory
and RAID disk arrays used for stable storage. Hardware database accelerators, connected to one
or more servers via a high-speed channel, are also used in large volume transaction processing
environments. DBMSs are found at the heart of most database applications. DBMSs may be built
around a custom multitasking kernel with built-in networking support, but modern DBMSs
typically rely on a standard operating system to provide these functions.[citation needed]

[edit] History
This article may need to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events
or newly available information, and remove this template when finished. Please see the
talk page for more information. (July 2009)

Databases have been in use since the earliest days of electronic computing. Unlike modern
systems which can be applied to widely different databases and needs, the vast majority of older
systems were tightly linked to the custom databases in order to gain speed at the expense of
flexibility. Originally DBMSs were found only in large organizations with the computer
hardware needed to support large data sets.

[edit] 1960s Navigational DBMS

As computers grew in speed and capability, a number of general-purpose database systems

emerged; by the mid-1960s there were a number of such systems in commercial use. Interest in a
standard began to grow, and Charles Bachman, author of one such product, Integrated Data Store
(IDS), founded the "Database Task Group" within CODASYL, the group responsible for the
creation and standardization of COBOL. In 1971 they delivered their standard, which generally
became known as the "Codasyl approach", and soon there were a number of commercial
products based on it available.

The Codasyl approach was based on the "manual" navigation of a linked data set which was
formed into a large network. When the database was first opened, the program was handed back
a link to the first record in the database, which also contained pointers to other pieces of data. To
find any particular record the programmer had to step through these pointers one at a time until
the required record was returned. Simple queries like "find all the people in India" required the
program to walk the entire data set and collect the matching results. There was, essentially, no
concept of "find" or "search". This might sound like a serious limitation today, but in an era
when the data was most often stored on magnetic tape such operations were too expensive to
contemplate anyway.

IBM also had their own DBMS system in 1968, known as IMS. IMS was a development of
software written for the Apollo program on the System/360. IMS was generally similar in
concept to Codasyl, but used a strict hierarchy for its model of data navigation instead of
Codasyl's network model. Both concepts later became known as navigational databases due to
the way data was accessed, and Bachman's 1973 Turing Award award presentation was The
Programmer as Navigator. IMS is classified as a hierarchical database. IMS and IDMS, both
CODASYL databases, as well as CINCOMs TOTAL database are classified as network
databases.

[edit] 1970s Relational DBMS

Edgar Codd worked at IBM in San Jose, California, in one of their offshoot offices that was
primarily involved in the development of hard disk systems. He was unhappy with the
navigational model of the Codasyl approach, notably the lack of a "search" facility. In 1970, he
wrote a number of papers that outlined a new approach to database construction that eventually
culminated in the groundbreaking A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks.[1]

In this paper, he described a new system for storing and working with large databases. Instead of
records being stored in some sort of linked list of free-form records as in Codasyl, Codd's idea
was to use a "table" of fixed-length records. A linked-list system would be very inefficient when
storing "sparse" databases where some of the data for any one record could be left empty. The
relational model solved this by splitting the data into a series of normalized tables, with optional
elements being moved out of the main table to where they would take up room only if needed.
In the relational model, related records are linked together with a "key".

For instance, a common use of a database system is to track information about users, their name,
login information, various addresses and phone numbers. In the navigational approach all of
these data would be placed in a single record, and unused items would simply not be placed in
the database. In the relational approach, the data would be normalized into a user table, an
address table and a phone number table (for instance). Records would be created in these
optional tables only if the address or phone numbers were actually provided.

Linking the information back together is the key to this system. In the relational model, some bit
of information was used as a "key", uniquely defining a particular record. When information was
being collected about a user, information stored in the optional (or related) tables would be
found by searching for this key. For instance, if the login name of a user is unique, addresses and
phone numbers for that user would be recorded with the login name as its key. This "re-linking"
of related data back into a single collection is something that traditional computer languages are
not designed for.

Just as the navigational approach would require programs to loop in order to collect records, the
relational approach would require loops to collect information about any one record. Codd's
solution to the necessary looping was a set-oriented language, a suggestion that would later
spawn the ubiquitous SQL. Using a branch of mathematics known as tuple calculus, he
demonstrated that such a system could support all the operations of normal databases (inserting,
updating etc.) as well as providing a simple system for finding and returning sets of data in a
single operation.

Codd's paper was picked up by two people at the Berkeley, Eugene Wong and Michael
Stonebraker. They started a project known as INGRES using funding that had already been
allocated for a geographical database project, using student programmers to produce code.
Beginning in 1973, INGRES delivered its first test products which were generally ready for
widespread use in 1979. During this time, a number of people had moved "through" the group —
perhaps as many as 30 people worked on the project, about five at a time. INGRES was similar
to System R in a number of ways, including the use of a "language" for data access, known as
QUEL — QUEL was in fact relational, having been based on Codd's own Alpha language, but
has since been corrupted to follow SQL, thus violating much the same concepts of the relational
model as SQL itself.

IBM itself did one test implementation of the relational model, PRTV, and a production one,
Business System 12, both now discontinued. Honeywell did MRDS for Multics, and now there
are two new implementations: Alphora Dataphor and Rel. All other DBMS implementations
usually called relational are actually SQL DBMSs. In 1968, the University of Michigan began
development of the Micro DBMS relational database management system. It was used to manage
very large data sets by the US Department of Labor, the Environmental Protection Agency and
researchers from University of Alberta, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University.
It ran on mainframe computers using Michigan Terminal System. The system remained in
production until 1996.

[edit] End 1970s SQL DBMS

IBM started working on a prototype system loosely based on Codd's concepts as System R in the
early 1970s. The first version was ready in 1974/5, and work then started on multi-table systems
in which the data could be split so that all of the data for a record (much of which is often
optional) did not have to be stored in a single large "chunk". Subsequent multi-user versions
were tested by customers in 1978 and 1979, by which time a standardized query language, SQL,
had been added. Codd's ideas were establishing themselves as both workable and superior to
Codasyl, pushing IBM to develop a true production version of System R, known as SQL/DS,
and, later, Database 2 (DB2).

Many of the people involved with INGRES became convinced of the future commercial success
of such systems, and formed their own companies to commercialize the work but with an SQL
interface. Sybase, Informix, NonStop SQL and eventually Ingres itself were all being sold as
offshoots to the original INGRES product in the 1980s. Even Microsoft SQL Server is actually a
re-built version of Sybase, and thus, INGRES. Only Larry Ellison's Oracle started from a
different chain, based on IBM's papers on System R, and beat IBM to market when the first
version was released in 1978.

Stonebraker went on to apply the lessons from INGRES to develop a new database, Postgres,
which is now known as PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL is often used for global mission critical
applications (the .org and .info domain name registries use it as their primary data store, as do
many large companies and financial institutions).

In Sweden, Codd's paper was also read and Mimer SQL was developed from the mid-70s at
Uppsala University. In 1984, this project was consolidated into an independent enterprise. In the
early 1980s, Mimer introduced transaction handling for high robustness in applications, an idea
that was subsequently implemented on most other DBMS.

[edit] 1980s Object Oriented Databases

The 1980s, along with a rise in object oriented programming, saw a growth in how data in
various databases were handled. Programmers and designers began to treat the data in their
databases as objects. That is to say that if a person's data were in a database, that person's
attributes, such as their address, phone number, and age, were now considered to belong to that
person instead of being extraneous data. This allows for relationships between data to be relation
to objects and their attributes and not to individual fields.[2]

Another big game changer for databases in the 1980s was the focus on increasing reliability and
access speeds. In 1989, two professors from the University of Michigan at Madison[citation needed],
published an article at an ACM associated conference outlining their methods on increasing
database performance. The idea was to replicate specific important, and often queried
information, and store it in a smaller temporary database that linked these key features back to
the main database. This meant that a query could search the smaller database much quicker,
rather than search the entire dataset.[3] This eventually leads to the practice of indexing, which is
used by almost every operating system from Windows to the system that operates Apple iPod
devices.

[edit] DBMS building blocks

A DBMS includes four main parts: modeling language, data structure, database query language,
and transaction mechanisms:

[edit] Components of DBMS

 DBMS Engine accepts logical request from the various other DBMS subsystems,
converts them into physical equivalents, and actually accesses the database and data
dictionary as they exist on a storage device.
 Data Definition Subsystem helps user to create and maintain the data dictionary and
define the structure of the files in a database.
 Data Manipulation Subsystem helps user to add, change, and delete information in a
database and query it for valuable information. Software tools within the data
manipulation subsystem are most often the primary interface between user and the
information contained in a database. It allows user to specify its logical information
requirements.
 Application Generation Subsystem contains facilities to help users to develop
transaction-intensive applications. It usually requires that user perform a detailed series of
tasks to process a transaction. It facilitates easy-to-use data entry screens, programming
languages, and interfaces.
 Data Administration Subsystem helps users to manage the overall database
environment by providing facilities for backup and recovery, security management, query
optimization, concurrency control, and change management.

[edit] Modeling language

A data modeling language to define the schema of each database hosted in the DBMS, according
to the DBMS database model. The four most common types of models are the:

 hierarchical model,
 network model,
 relational model, and
 object model.

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), reliability, maintainability, scalability, and cost).

The dominant model in use today is the ad hoc one embedded in SQL, despite the objections of
purists who believe this model is a corruption of the relational model, since it violates several of
its fundamental principles for the sake of practicality and performance. Many DBMSs also
support the Open Database Connectivity API that supports a standard way for programmers to
access the DBMS.

Before the database management approach, organizations relied on file processing systems to
organize, store, and process data files. End users became aggravated with file processing because
data is stored in many different files and each organized in a different way. Each file was
specialized to be used with a specific application. Needless to say, file processing was bulky,
costly and nonflexible when it came to supplying needed data accurately and promptly. Data
redundancy is an issue with the file processing system because the independent data files
produce duplicate data so when updates were needed each separate file would need to be
updated. Another issue is the lack of data integration. The data is dependent on other data to
organize and store it. Lastly, there was not any consistency or standardization of the data in a file
processing system which makes maintenance difficult. For all these reasons, the database
management approach was produced. Database management systems (DBMS) are designed to
use one of five database structures to provide simplistic access to information stored in
databases. The five database structures are hierarchical, network, relational, multidimensional
and object-oriented models.

The hierarchical structure was used in early mainframe DBMS. Records’ relationships form a
treelike model. This structure is simple but nonflexible because the relationship is confined to a
one-to-many relationship. IBM’s IMS system and the RDM Mobile are examples of a
hierarchical database system with multiple hierarchies over the same data. RDM Mobile is a
newly designed embedded database for a mobile computer system. The hierarchical structure is
used primary today for storing geographic information and file systems.

The network structure consists of more complex relationships. Unlike the hierarchical structure,
it can relate to many records and accesses them by following one of several paths. In other
words, this structure allows for many-to-many relationships.
The relational structure is the most commonly used today. It is used by mainframe, midrange and
microcomputer systems. It uses two-dimensional rows and columns to store data. The tables of
records can be connected by common key values. While working for IBM, E.F. Codd designed
this structure in 1970. The model is not easy for the end user to run queries with because it may
require a complex combination of many tables.

The multidimensional structure is similar to the relational model. The dimensions of the cube
looking model have data relating to elements in each cell. This structure gives a spreadsheet like
view of data. This structure is easy to maintain because records are stored as fundamental
attributes, the same way they’re viewed and the structure is easy to understand. Its high
performance has made it the most popular database structure when it comes to enabling online
analytical processing (OLAP).

The object oriented structure has the ability to handle graphics, pictures, voice and text, types of
data, without difficultly unlike the other database structures. This structure is popular for
multimedia Web-based applications. It was designed to work with object-oriented programming
languages such as Java.

[edit] Data structure

Data structures (fields, records, files and objects) optimized to deal with very large amounts of
data stored on a permanent data storage device (which implies relatively slow access compared
to volatile main memory).

[edit] Database query language

A database query language and report writer allows users to interactively interrogate the
database, analyze its data and update it according to the users privileges on data. It also controls
the security of the database. Data security prevents unauthorized users from viewing or updating
the database. Using passwords, users are allowed access to the entire database or subsets of it
called subschemas. For example, an employee database can contain all the data about an
individual employee, but one group of users may be authorized to view only payroll data, while
others are allowed access to only work history and medical data.

If the DBMS provides a way to interactively enter and update the database, as well as interrogate
it, this capability allows for managing personal databases. However, it may not leave an audit
trail of actions or provide the kinds of controls necessary in a multi-user organization. These
controls are only available when a set of application programs are customized for each data entry
and updating function.

[edit] Transaction mechanism

A database transaction mechanism ideally guarantees ACID properties in order to ensure data
integrity despite concurrent user accesses (concurrency control), and faults (fault tolerance). It
also maintains the integrity of the data in the database. The DBMS can maintain the integrity of
the database by not allowing more than one user to update the same record at the same time. The
DBMS can help prevent duplicate records via unique index constraints; for example, no two
customers with the same customer numbers (key fields) can be entered into the database. See
ACID properties for more information (Redundancy avoidance).

[edit] DBMS topics

[edit] External, Logical and Internal view

Traditional View of Data[4]

A database management system provides the ability for many different users to share data and
process resources. But as there can be many different users, there are many different database
needs. The question now is: How can a single, unified database meet the differing requirement of
so many users?

A DBMS minimizes these problems by providing two views of the database data: an external
view(or User view), logical view(or conceptual view)and physical(or internal) view. The user’s
view, of a database program represents data in a format that is meaningful to a user and to the
software programs that process those data.

One strength of a DBMS is that while there is typically only one conceptual (or logical) and
physical (or Internal) view of the data, there can be an endless number of different External
views. This feature allows users to see database information in a more business-related way
rather than from a technical, processing viewpoint. Thus the logical view refers to the way user
views data, and the physical view to the way the data are physically stored and processed.

[edit] DBMS features and capabilities

Alternatively, and especially in connection with the relational model of database management,
the relation between attributes drawn from a specified set of domains can be seen as being
primary. For instance, the database might indicate that a car that was originally "red" might fade
to "pink" in time, provided it was of some particular "make" with an inferior paint job. Such
higher arity relationships provide information on all of the underlying domains at the same time,
with none of them being privileged above the others.

[edit] DBMS simple definition

Data base management system is the system in which related data is stored in an "efficient" and
"compact" manner. Efficient means that the data which is stored in the DBMS is accessed in very
quick time and compact means that the data which is stored in DBMS covers very less space in
computer's memory. In above definition the phrase "related data" is used which means that the
data which is stored in DBMS is about some particular topic.

Throughout recent history specialized databases have existed for scientific, geospatial, imaging,
document storage and like uses. Functionality drawn from such applications has lately begun
appearing in mainstream DBMSs as well. However, the main focus there, at least when aimed at
the commercial data processing market, is still on descriptive attributes on repetitive record
structures.

Thus, the DBMSs of today roll together frequently needed services or features of attribute
management. By externalizing such functionality to the DBMS, applications effectively share
code with each other and are relieved of much internal complexity. Features commonly offered
by database management systems include:

Query ability 
Querying is the process of requesting attribute information from various perspectives and
combinations of factors. Example: "How many 2-door cars in Texas are green?" A
database query language and report writer allow users to interactively interrogate the
database, analyze its data and update it according to the users privileges on data.
Backup and replication 
Copies of attributes need to be made regularly in case primary disks or other equipment
fails. A periodic copy of attributes may also be created for a distant organization that
cannot readily access the original. DBMS usually provide utilities to facilitate the process
of extracting and disseminating attribute sets. When data is replicated between database
servers, so that the information remains consistent throughout the database system and
users cannot tell or even know which server in the DBMS they are using, the system is
said to exhibit replication transparency.
Rule enforcement 
Often one wants to apply rules to attributes so that the attributes are clean and reliable.
For example, we may have a rule that says each car can have only one engine associated
with it (identified by Engine Number). If somebody tries to associate a second engine
with a given car, we want the DBMS to deny such a request and display an error
message. However, with changes in the model specification such as, in this example,
hybrid gas-electric cars, rules may need to change. Ideally such rules should be able to be
added and removed as needed without significant data layout redesign.
Security 
Often it is desirable to limit who can see or change which attributes or groups of
attributes. This may be managed directly by individual, or by the assignment of
 individuals and privileges to groups, or (in the most elaborate models) through the
assignment of individuals and groups to roles which are then granted entitlements.
Computation 
There are common computations requested on attributes such as counting, summing,
averaging, sorting, grouping, cross-referencing, etc. Rather than have each computer
application implement these from scratch, they can rely on the DBMS to supply such
calculations.
Change and access logging 
Often one wants to know who accessed what attributes, what was changed, and when it
was changed. Logging services allow this by keeping a record of access occurrences and
changes.
Automated optimization 
If there are frequently occurring usage patterns or requests, some DBMS can adjust
themselves to improve the speed of those interactions. In some cases the DBMS will
merely provide tools to monitor performance, allowing a human expert to make the
necessary adjustments after reviewing the statistics collected.

Bold text

[edit] Meta-data repository

Metadata is data describing data. For example, a listing that describes what attributes are allowed
to be in data sets is called "meta-information". The meta-data is also known as data about data.

[edit] Current trends

In 1998, database management was in need of new style databases to solve current database
management problems. Researchers realized that the old trends of database management were
becoming too complex and there was a need for automated configuration and management [5].
Surajit Chaudhuri, Gerhard Weikum and Michael Stonebraker, were the pioneers that
dramatically affected the thought of database management systems [5]. They believed that
database management needed a more modular approach and that there are so many specifications
needs for various users [5]. Since this new development process of database management we
currently have endless possibilities. Database management is no longer limited to “monolithic
entities” [5]. Many solutions have developed to satisfy individual needs of users. Development of
numerous database options has created flexible solutions in database management.

Today there are several ways database management has affected the technology world as we
know it. Organizations demand for directory services has become an extreme necessity as
organizations grow. Businesses are now able to use directory services that provided prompt
searches for their company information [5]. Mobile devices are not only able to store contact
information of users but have grown to bigger capabilities. Mobile technology is able to cache
large information that is used for computers and is able to display it on smaller devices [5]. Web
searches have even been affected with database management. Search engine queries are able to
locate data within the World Wide Web [5]. Retailers have also benefited from the developments
with data warehousing. These companies are able to record customer transactions made within
their business [5]. Online transactions have become tremendously popular with the e-business
world. Consumers and businesses are able to make payments securely on company websites.
None of these current developments would have been possible without the evolution of database
management. Even with all the progress and current trends of database management, there will
always be a need for new development as specifications and needs grow.

As the speeds of consumer internet connectivity increase, and as data availability and computing
become more ubiquitous, database are seeing migration to web services. Web based languages
such as XML and PHP are being used to process databases over web based services. These
languages allow databases to live in "the cloud." As with many other products, such as Google's
GMail, Microsoft's Office 2010, and Carbonite's online backup services, many services are
beginning to move to web based services due to increasing internet reliability, data storage
efficiency, and the lack of a need for dedicated IT staff to manage the hardware. Faculty at
Rochester Institute of Technology published a paper regarding the use of databases in the cloud
and state that their school plans to add cloud based database computing to their curriculum to
"keep [their] information technology (IT) curriculum at the forefront of technology