A database management system (DBSM) means system software used to create and manage databases. A DBSM makes it possible for end users creating, protecting, reading, updating, and deleting data in a database. As the most prevalent kind of data management platform, the DBSM serves as an interface between databases & end users/app programs. It ensures that data is organized consistently & remains accessible easily.
What Does It Do?
The Database Management System manages the data. Then, the database engine lets data to be accessed, modified, and locked. The database schema defines the logical structure of the database. These 3 foundational elements help provide data integrity, security, concurrency & uniform data administration procedures. You need to know that typical database administration tasks the DBMS supports are backup & recovery, security, performance monitoring & tuning, and change management. Most management systems are responsible for automated restarts & rollbacks and logging & auditing of activity in databases & apps that access them.
The Database Management System also provides a centralized data view that can be accessed by multiple users in a controlled manner. It can limit what data the end users see and how they can view the data, providing many views of a single database schema. For your information, end users & software programs are free from needing to understand where the data is located physically, or on what kind of storage media it resides as it handles all requests.
The Components of a DBMS
A DBMS is a system software consisting of multiple integrated components delivering a managed environment to create, access, and modify data in databases. The components include:
- Storage Engine
It is the DBMS’ basic element, that is used to store data. Database Management System should interface with a file system at the OS level to store data. It may use extra components to store data/interface with the actual data at the file system level.
- Metadata Catalog
It can also be called a database dictionary or system catalog. It functions as a repository of Database Management objects created. Metadata catalog includes info about communication, performance, security, programs, schemas, database objects & other environmental details.
- Database Access Language
DBMS should also provide an API to access the data, typically in a database access language form.
- Optimization Engine
Database Management System can also provide an optimization engine. It is used to parse requests of database access language & turn them into actionable commands to access and modify data.
- Lock Manager
It is a crucial component. It is required to ensure multiple users is not trying to simultaneously modify the same data.
- Log Manager
DBMS records all changes. This component is used to ensure that log records are created accurately & efficiently. It is also used by the DBMS during shutdown & startup to ensure data integrity.
- Data utilities
DBMS provides utilities to manage & control database activities. The examples include repair database, unload data, load data, integrity check, recover, backup & copy, and reorganization.
Database management system is divided into a few types including a cloud-based DBMS, a columnar DBMS, an in-memory DBMS, a NoSQL DBMS, and an RDBMS. It is also important to know that DBMS has a few big advantages such as to let end users & app programmer access & use the same data concurrently, database administrators can use it to impose a logical, structured organization on the data, and can provide many views of a database schema.