What is a database management system?

 A database management system (DBMS) refers to a software-defined system that manages

databases and their data.
 Common database management systems include Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database,
and PostgreSQL.
 With a DBMS, users have control over the data in a database and are able to read, update,
create, and delete data.
 A database management system enables users, such as database administrators, to manage
the data, to manage the engine that allows users to access the data within the database, and
to manage what is known as the database schema, the organizational structure of a
database.
 Together, a DBMS delivers security and ensures data integrity, but some systems are even
used to deliver automated rollbacks and restarts, logs, and audit activity within a database.

Database management systems can be categorized into various types:

 A centralized system where all the data lives in a single location, and users can access that
location to manipulate the data.
 A distributed system where the data lives in various nodes.
 A federated system can be provision data without source data duplication. This category can
be further split into two subcategories:
o A loosely coupled database requires access to other component databases.
o A tightly coupled database uses independent processes to work into a federated
system.
o Blockchain database systems manage transactions, financial and otherwise.

What are the components of a database management system?

Most DBMSes include the following:

 Storage engine - As the core component of a DBMS, this stores the data. It’s the part of the
system that communicates with the file system at the OS level. It’s the gateway for all the
SQL queries that interact with the stored data.

 System catalog or database dictionary - Also called the metadata catalog, this component is
a centralized repository for all created database objects. It is used to confirm data requests
from users and also to provide information about a database’s objects, security,
performance, and more.

 Database access language - every DBMS needs an application programming interface (API)
to enable users to create databases and access data, and it usually comes in the form of a
database access language. For instance, structured query language (SQL) is the default data
access language in relational databases.

 Optimization engine - This component processes data requests and transforms them into
actionable commands. It also helps tune databases for optimal performance.

 Query processor - Once a query (data request) has gone through the optimization engine,
the query processor handles the request and feeds back the results. It acts as a sort of
middleman between the database and user queries.
  Lock manager - This component keeps multiple users from modifying the same data at the
same time. It locks access for each user in turn.

 Log manager - All DBMSes keep records of how and when data in the database is modified,
created, or deleted. The log manager records this information and can also integrate with
database utilities to recover data or make backups. It manages the logs by organizing them
and keeping them easily accessible.

 Data utilities - This category is an umbrella term for a variety of components that simplify
database management and monitor activity. They can include software for data backup and
restore, integrity checks, reporting and monitoring, simple repair, validations, and so on.

Why businesses need database management?

The proliferation of data shows no signs of slowing down. As a result, businesses are investing in
database management tasks, database managers, and database management systems to do the
following:

 Keep business operations running as planned

 Keep track of customers, data inventory, and employees
 Maintain application and database performance
 Store and organize unique, varied types of data
 Automate database processes and procedures

Specifically, the benefits of a database management system are hard to ignore, especially as the
amount of data people and machines create every day increases. One of the more notable benefits
is improving the security of the data stored in a database. With DBMS, businesses can increase their
access to data and help end users throughout the organizations share the data. As a result, these
end users can deliver faster sales and make quicker decisions as they have access to the exact data
they need.

Furthermore, with a database management system, businesses can eliminate the problems that
occur with data inconsistency, which happens if multiple forms of the same data exist in different
locations. A DBMS provides organizations a complete, clear view into the way data is shared,
ensuring there aren’t unnecessary copies of data. Not to mention, A DBMS allows organizations to
enforce data security and privacy policies to reduce the risk of a data breach.

Finally, end users will be empowered to make informed decisions based on the data available.
Better, more consistent data means high-quality, usable information that can help users make
decisions with the exact data they need. Ultimately, this results in improved productivity throughout
the organization.

Database management system use cases

Databases are used in such a wide variety of ways that it’s fair to say that every organization has at
least several use cases for employing a DBMS. Any company that stores data to access it later, or has
applications that need a lot of data to operate are good use cases for a DBMS.

Here are some DBMS use cases in different industries:

 Economics and finance firms store information about customer transactions, stock market
trades, bonds, mortgages, and other financial products.
  Telecommunications companies store information about customer calls, billing, archives,
and plan features and capabilities.
 Airlines store information about flight schedules, employee work histories, safety records,
reservations, and maintenance.
 Educational institutions store information about class schedules, student records, teacher
reviews and remuneration, and class registration.
 Sales and marketing organizations store information about customer meetings and sales,
returns, feedback, and prospects.
 Human resources firms store information about new and prospective hires, payroll, taxes,
employee performance reviews, and more.
 Manufacturers store information about inventory, operations, production blueprints, supply
chain, and maintenance.
 Streaming media platforms rely on databases to store massive volumes of media that need
to be organized and accessed on demand.
 Technology companies use database information to create virtual and augmented reality
applications that require data-intensive AI and machine learning models.
 Sports organizations store information about player statistics, team performance, game
scheduling, and historical media that can be analyzed.

Database tasks in a DBMS

The typical database administrative tasks that can be performed using a DBMS include:

 Configuring authentication and authorization. Easily configure user accounts, define

access policies, modify restrictions, and access scopes. These operations allow
administrators to limit access to underlying data, control user actions, and manage
users in databases.
 Providing data backups and snapshots. DBMS can simplify the backup process of
databases by providing a simpler and straightforward interface to manage backups and
snapshots. They can even move these backups to third-party locations such as cloud
storage for safekeeping.
 Performance tuning. DBMS can monitor the performance of databases using
integrated tools and enable users to tune databases by creating optimized indexes. It
reduces I/O usage to optimize SQL queries, enabling the best performance from the
database.
 Data recovery. In a recovery operation, DBMS provides a recovery platform with the
necessary tools to fully or partially restore databases to their previous state—
effortlessly.

All these administrative tasks are facilitated using a single management interface. Most modern
DBMS support handling multiple database workloads from a centralized DBMS software, even in a
distributed database scenario. Furthermore, they allow organizations to have a governable top-
down view of all the data, users, groups, locations, etc., in an organized manner.

DBMS system schematic

The following diagram illustrates the schematic of a DBMS system:
Components of a database management system
All DBMS comes with various integrated components and tools necessary to carry out almost all
database management tasks. Some DBMS software even provides the ability to extend beyond the
core functionality by integrating with third-party tools and services, directly or via plugins.

In this section, we will look at the common components that are universal across all DBMS software,
including:

 Storage engine
 Query language
 Query processor
 Optimization engine
 Metadata catalog
 Log manager
 Reporting and monitoring tools
  Data utilities

Storage engine
The storage engine is the core component of the DBMS that interacts with the file system at an OS
level to store data. All SQL queries which interact with the underlying data go through the storage
engine.

Query language
A database access language is required for interacting with a database, from creating databases to
simply inserting or retrieving data. A proper DBMS must support one or multiple query languages
and language dialects. Structured query language (SQL) and MongoDB Query Language (MQL) are
two query languages that are used to interact with the databases.

In many query languages, the query language functionality can be further categorized according to
specific tasks:

 Data Definition Language (DDL). This consists of commands that can be used to define
database schemas or modify the structure of database objects.
  Data Manipulation Language (DML). Commands that directly deal with the data in the
database. All CRUD Operations come under DML.
 Data Control Language (DCL). This deals with the permissions and other access controls
of the database.
 Transaction Control Language (TCL). Command which deals with internal database
transactions.

Some common SQL commands and syntax:

 Example:SELECT employees.name, departments.department_name
FROM employees JOIN departments ON employees.department_id =
departments.department_id;
Query processor
This is the intermediary between the user queries and the database. The query processor interprets
the queries of users and makes them actionable commands that can be understood by the database
to perform the appropriate functionality.

Optimization engine
The optimization Engine allows the DBMS to provide insights into the performance of the database
in terms of optimizing the database itself and queries.

Metadata catalog
This is the centralized catalog of all the objects within the database. When an object is created, the
DBMS keeps a record of that object with some metadata about it using the metadata catalog. Then,
this record can be used to:

 Verify user requests to the appropriate database objects

 Provide an overview of the complete database structure

Log manager
This component will keep all the logs of the DBMS. These logs will consist of user logins and activity,
database functions, backups and restore functions, etc.

Reporting & monitoring tools

Reporting and monitoring tools are another standard component that comes with a DBMS.
Reporting tools will enable users to generate reports while monitoring tools enable monitoring the
databases for resource consumption, user activity, etc.

Data utilities
In addition to all the above, most DBMS software comes with additional inbuilt utilities to provide
functionality such as:

 Data integrity checks

 Backup and restore
 Simple database repair
 Data validations
 Etc.