DATABASE (DBASE)

What is a database?
A database is information that is set up for easy access, management and updating.
Computer databases typically store aggregations of data records or files that contain
information, such as sales transactions, customer data, financials and product
information.

Databases are used for storing, maintaining and accessing any sort of data. They collect
information on people, places or things. That information is gathered in one place so that
it can be observed and analyzed. Databases can be thought of as an organized collection
of information.
What are databases used for?
Businesses use data stored in databases to make informed business decisions. Some of
the ways organizations use databases include the following:

• Improve business processes. Companies collect data about business processes,

such sales, order processing and customer service. They analyze that data to
improve these processes, expand their business and grow revenue.
• Keep track of customers. Databases often store information about people, such as
customers or users. For example, social media platforms use databases to store
user information, such as names, email addresses and user behavior. The data is
used to recommend content to users and improve the user experience.
• Secure personal health information. Healthcare providers use databases to
securely store personal health data to inform and improve patient care.
• Store personal data. Databases can also be used to store personal information. For
example, personal cloud storage is available for individual users to store media,
such as photos, in a managed cloud.
Evolution of databases
Databases were first created in the 1960s. These early databases were network models
where each record is related to many primary and secondary records. Hierarchical
databases were also among the early models. They have tree schemas with a root
directory of records linked to several subdirectories.

Relational databases were developed in the 1970s. Object-oriented databases came next
in the 1980s. Today, we use Structured Query Language (SQL), NoSQL and cloud
databases.

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E.F. Codd created the relational database while at IBM. It became the standard for
database systems because of its logical schema, or the way it is organized. The use of a
logical schema separates the relational database from physical storage.

The relational database, combined with the growth of the internet beginning in the mid-
1990s, led to a proliferation of databases. Many business and consumer applications rely
on databases.
Types of databases
There are many types of databases. They may be classified according to content type:
bibliographic, full text, numeric and images. In computing, databases are often classified
based on the organizational approach they use.

Some of the main organizational databases include the following:

Relational. This tabular approach defines data so it can be reorganized and accessed in
many ways. Relational databases are comprised of tables. Data is placed into predefined
categories in those tables. Each table has columns with at least one data category, and
rows that have a certain data instance for the categories which are defined in the columns.
Information in a relational database about a specific customer is organized into rows,
columns and tables. These are indexed to make it easier to search using SQL or NoSQL
queries.

Relational databases use SQL in their user and application program interfaces. A new
data category can easily be added to a relational database without having to change the
existing applications. A relational database management system (RDBMS) is used to
store, manage, query and retrieve data in a relational database.

Typically, the RDBMS gives users the ability to control read/write access, specify report
generation and analyze use. Some databases offer atomicity, consistency, isolation and
durability, or ACID, compliance to guarantee that data is consistent and that transactions
are complete.

Distributed. This database stores records or files in several physical locations. Data
processing is also spread out and replicated across different parts of the network.

Distributed databases can be homogeneous, where all physical locations have the same
underlying hardware and run the same operating systems and database applications.
They can also be heterogeneous. In those cases, the hardware, OS and database
applications can be different in the various locations.

Cloud. These databases are built in a public, private or hybrid cloud for a virtualized
environment. Users are charged based on how much storage and bandwidth they use.

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They also get scalability on demand and high availability. These databases can work with
applications deployed as software as a service.

NoSQL. NoSQL databases are good when dealing with large collections of distributed
data. They can address big data performance issues better than relational databases. They
also do well analyzing large unstructured data sets and data on virtual servers in the
cloud. These databases can also be called non-relational databases.

Object-oriented. These databases hold data created using object-oriented programming

languages. They focus on organizing objects rather than actions and data rather than
logic. For instance, an image data record would be a data object, rather than an
alphanumeric value.

Graph. These databases are a type of NoSQL database. They store, map and query
relationships using concepts from graph theory. Graph databases are made up of nodes
and edges. Nodes are entities and connect the nodes.

These databases are often used to analyze interconnections. Graph databases are often
used to analyze data about customers as they interact with a business on webpages and
in social media.

Graph databases use SPARQL, a declarative programming language and protocol, for
analytics. SPARQL can perform all the analytics that SQL can perform, and can also be
used for semantic analysis, or the examination of relationships. This makes it useful for
performing analytics on data sets that have both structured and unstructured data.
SPARQL lets users perform analytics on information stored in a relational database, as
well as friend-of-a-friend relationships, PageRank and shortest path.

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What are the components of a database?
While the different types of databases vary in schema, data structure and data types most
suited to them, they are all comprised of the same five basic components.

1. Hardware. This is the physical device that database software runs on. Database
hardware includes computers, servers and hard drives.
2. Software. Database software or application gives users control of the database.
Database management system (DBMS) software is used to manage and control
databases.
3. Data. This is the raw information that the database stores. Database administrators
organize the data to make it more meaningful.
4. Data access language. This is the programming language that controls the
database. The programming language and the DBMS must work together. One of
the most common database languages is SQL.
5. Procedures. These rules determine how the database works and how it handles
the data.
What are database challenges?
Setting up, operating and maintaining a database has some common challenges, such as
the following:

• Data security is required because data is a valuable business asset. Protecting data
stores requires skilled cybersecurity staff, which can be costly.
• Data integrity ensures data is trustworthy. It is not always easy to achieve data
integrity because it means restricting access to databases to only those qualified to
handle it.
• Database performance requires regular database updates and maintenance.
Without the proper support, database functionality can decline as the technology
supporting the database changes or as the data it contains changes.
• Database integration can also be difficult. It can involve integrating data sources
from varying types of databases and structures into a single database or into data
lakes and data warehouses.
What is a database management system?
A DBMS enables users to create and manage a database. It also helps users create, read,
update and delete data in a database, and it assists with logging and auditing functions.

The DBMS provides physical and logical independence from data. Users and applications
do not need to know either the physical or logical locations of data. A DBMS can also

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limit and control access to the database and provide different views of the same database
schema to multiple users.

APIs connect the user or application to the database management system, which lets them
interact with the database.