What is Data?

In simple words, data can be facts related to any object in consideration. For example, your name, age,
height, weight, etc. are some data related to you. A picture, image, file, pdf, etc. can also be considered
data.

What is a Database?

A database is a systematic collection of data. They support electronic storage and manipulation of data.
Databases make data management easy.

Let us discuss a database example: An online telephone directory uses a database to store data of
people, phone numbers, and other contact details. Your electricity service provider uses a database to
manage billing, client-related issues, handle fault data, etc.

Let us also consider Facebook. It needs to store, manipulate, and present data related to members,
their friends, member activities, messages, advertisements, and a lot more. We can provide countless
examples of the usage of databases.

Types of Databases
 Distributed databases:
A distributed database is a type of database that has contributions from the common database and
information captured by local computers. In this type of database system, the data is not in one place
and is distributed at various organizations.
 Relational databases:
This type of database defines database relationships in the form of tables. It is also called Relational
DBMS, which is the most popular DBMS type in the market. Database examples of the RDBMS system
include MySQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server database.
 Object-oriented databases:
This type of computer database supports the storage of all data types. The data is stored in the form of
objects. The objects to be held in the database have attributes and methods that define what to do with
the data. PostgreSQL is an example of an object-oriented relational DBMS.
 Centralized database:
It is a centralized location, and users from different backgrounds can access this data. This type of
computers databases stores application procedures that help users access the data even from a
remote location.
 Open-source databases:
This kind of database stores information related to operations. It is mainly used in the field of marketing,
employee relations, customer service, of databases.
  Cloud databases:
A cloud database is a database that is optimized or built for such a virtualized environment. There are
so many advantages of a cloud database, some of which can pay for storage capacity and bandwidth. It
also offers scalability on-demand, along with high availability.
 Data warehouses:
Data Warehouse is to facilitate a single version of truth for a company for decision-making and
forecasting. A Data warehouse is an information system that contains historical and commutative data
from single or multiple sources. The Data Warehouse concept simplifies the reporting and analysis
process of the organization.
 Personal database:
A personal database is used to store data stored on personal computers that are smaller and easily
manageable. The data is mostly used by the same department of the company and is accessed by a
small group of people.
There are five main components of a database:

 Hardware:
The hardware consists of physical and electronic devices like computers, I/O devices, storage devices,
etc. This offers the interface between computers and real-world systems.
 Software:
This is a set of programs used to manage and control the overall database. This includes the database
software itself, the Operating System, the network software used to share the data among users, and
the application programs for accessing data in the database.
 Data:
Data is a raw and unorganized fact that is required to be processed to make it meaningful. Data can be
simple at the same time unorganized unless it is organized. Generally, data comprises facts,
observations, perceptions, numbers, characters, symbols, images, etc.
 Procedure:
Procedures are a set of instructions and rules that help you to use the DBMS. It is designing and
running the database using documented methods, which allows you to guide the users who operate
and manage it.
 Database Access Language:
Database Access language is used to access the data to and from the database, enter new data,
update already existing data, or retrieve required data from DBMS. The user writes some specific
commands in a database access language and submits these to the database.

What is a Database Management System (DBMS)?

Database Management System (DBMS) is a collection of programs that enable its users to access
databases, manipulate data, report, and represent data. It also helps to control access to the database.
 Database Management Systems are not a new concept and, as such, had been first implemented in the
1960s.

Charles Bachman’s Integrated Data Store (IDS) is said to be the first DBMS in history. With time
database, technologies evolved a lot, while usage and expected functionalities of databases increased
immensely.

Advantages of DBMS

 DBMS offers a variety of techniques to store & retrieve data.

 DBMS serves as an efficient handler to balance the needs of multiple applications using the same data.
 Uniform administration procedures for data.
 Application programmers are never exposed to details of data representation and storage.
 A DBMS uses various powerful functions to store and retrieve data efficiently.
 Offers Data Integrity and Security.
 The DBMS implies integrity constraints to get a high level of protection against prohibited access to
data.
 A DBMS schedules concurrent access to the data in such a manner that only one user can access the
same data at a time.
 Reduced Application Development Time.

Disadvantage of DBMS

 DBMS may offer plenty of advantages but, it has certain flaws.

 Cost of Hardware and Software of a DBMS is quite high which increases the budget of your
organization.
 Most database management systems are often complex systems, the training for users to use the
DBMS is required.
 In some organizations, all data is integrated into a single database which can be damaged because of
electric failure, or the database is corrupted on the storage media.
 Use of the same program at a time by many users sometimes leads to the loss of some data.
 DBMS can’t perform sophisticated calculations.
What are database management systems?

To understand what database management systems are, we must first understand what a database

is. In computer terms, a database is a collection of data. Typically, it is the data of one specific

enterprise.

A database is not necessarily always stored on a computer. Records stored in a filing cabinet, in a

notebook, or whatnot can be considered a database. But often, this manual method of storing

information is not as efficient as using a computer, and it is not as efficient as using a database

management system.

What then are database management systems or DBMSs? A DBMS is a collection of interrelated

data plus the software and hardware used to access the data in a useful manner

What are the functions and components of a database management system?

DBMS’s main functions include the following (among many others):

 The manipulation of data: A DBMS (Database Management System) allows users to insert,

update, delete, and retrieve data from a database. It provides a set of commands and tools to

manage the data stored in the database.

 The definition of your database: A DBMS allows users to define the structure of the

database, including the tables, fields, relationships, and constraints. It provides a way to

organize and structure data in a meaningful way.

 The processing of your data: A DBMS provides tools for processing data, such as sorting,

filtering, grouping, and aggregating. It can also perform calculations and create reports based

on the data in the database.

 The sharing of your data: A DBMS allows multiple users to access the same data

simultaneously while ensuring that the data remains consistent and secure. It provides

mechanisms for controlling access to data, managing user permissions, and enforcing data

integrity constraints.
Note that a DBMS is only one component of what is known as a database system. This

database system, therefore, has these four components:

 Users: The individuals or applications that interact with the database system to access,

manipulate or update the data.

 Database Application: The software applications that are built on top of the DBMS to provide

specific functionalities to the end-users. These applications may be developed using various

programming languages or tools.

 DBMS (Database Management System): The software system that manages the storage,

retrieval, and processing of the data. It provides an interface between the users and the

database and enables efficient management of data, security, and integrity.

 Database: The collection of data that is organized and stored in a structured manner. It

includes data entities, their attributes, and the relationships between them.

Together, these components work in tandem to provide a comprehensive database system that

can efficiently manage and manipulate large amounts of data.

Entity Relationship Diagrams and Relational Modeling

Tables created during database normalization often correspond to ENTITIES, which are used in

relational modeling. Most DBMS packages for microcomputers make use of the

Fundamentals of Data Warehousing

Relational Data Model which highlights relationships between entities. We use Entity Relationship

Diagrams (ERDs) to design and visualize Relational Data Models.

Entity Relationship Diagrams are composed of:

 Entities - the representation we use to contain information on one real-world person, object,

place, etc. These are represented by rectangles in an ERD.

  Attributes – properties that describe entities. They correspond to the fields in records and are

represented by ovals.

 Relationships – how each entity is connected. They are represented by diamonds.

Data Warehouses and Data Marts

Data Warehouses and Data Marts are two types of database systems that are designed to support

business intelligence and decision-making processes. Here's a brief overview of each:

Data Warehouse: A data warehouse is a large, centralized repository that stores data from various

sources within an organization. The data is typically structured and organized in a way that facilitates

reporting and analysis. Data warehouses are often used to support business intelligence initiatives

and are designed to handle large volumes of data. They may include historical data and can be

optimized for complex queries and analytics.

Data Mart: A data mart is a smaller, more focused version of a data warehouse. It typically contains

data from a specific business unit or department and is designed to support the specific reporting and

analytical needs of that unit. Data marts are often built on top of a data warehouse and may include

only a subset of the data contained in the warehouse. They may be designed for faster query

performance and quicker access to data.

Both data warehouses and data marts play important roles in supporting business intelligence and

analytics. Data warehouses provide a centralized location for storing and managing large volumes of

data, while data marts provide targeted data sets that can be used to support specific business

needs.