A DBMS is a complex set of software programs that controls the organization, storage and retrieval of data in a database. A DBMS includes:

1. A modeling language to define the schema(relational model) of each database hosted in the DBMS, according to the DBMS data model.

The three most common organizations are the hierarchical, network and relational models. A database management system may provide one, two or all three methods. Inverted lists and other methods are also used. The most suitable structure depends on the application and on the transaction rate and the number of inquiries that will be made.

The dominant model in use today is the ad hoc one embedded in SQL, a corruption of the relational model by violating several of its fundamental principles. Many DBMSs also support the Open Database Connectivity API that supports a standard way for programmers to access the DBMS.

2. Data structures (fields, records and files) optimized to deal with very large amounts of data stored on a permanent data storage device (which implies very slow access compared to volatile main memory).
3. A database query language and report writer to allow users to interactively interrogate the database, analyse its data and update it according to the users privileges on data.

It also controls the security of the database.

Data security prevents unauthorised 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 organisation. These controls are only available when a set of application programs are customised for each data entry and updating function.

4. A transaction mechanism, that ideally would guarantee the 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).

The DBMS accepts requests for data from the application program and instructs the operating system to transfer the appropriate data.

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.

Organizations may use one kind of DBMS for daily transaction processing and then move the detail onto another computer that uses another DBMS better suited for random inquiries and analysis. Overall systems design decisions are performed by data administrators and systems analysts. Detailed database design is performed by database administrators.

Database servers are specially designed computers that hold the actual databases and run only the DBMS and related software. Database servers are usually multiprocessor computers, with RAID disk arrays used for stable storage. Connected to one or more servers via a high-speed channel, hardware database accelerators are also used in large volume transaction processing environments.

DBMS's are found at the heart of most database applications. Sometimes DBMSs are built around a private multitasking kernel with built-in networking support although nowadays these functions are left to the operating system.

Features and Abilities Of DBMS: One can characterize a DBMS as an "attribute management system" where attributes are small chunks of information that describe something. For example, "color" is an attribute of a car. The value of the attribute may be a color such as "red", "blue", "silver", etc. Lately databases have been modified to accept large or unstructured (pre-digested or pre-categorized) information as well, such as images and text documents. However, the main focus is still on descriptive attributes.

DBMS roll together frequently-needed services or features of attribute management. This allows one to get powerful functionality "out of the box" rather than program each from scratch or add and integrate them incrementally. Such features 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 to allow users to interactively interrogate the database, analyse its data and update it according to the users privileges on data. It also controls the security of the database. Data security prevents unauthorised 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 organisation. These controls are only available when a set of application programs are customised for each data entry and updating function.

Backup and Replication

Often copies of attributes need to be made 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. After all, you don't want anybody on the street to be able to change your license plate number in government automobile databases.

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.

Meta-data Repository

Meta-data is information about information. For example, a listing that describes what attributes are allowed to be in data sets is called "meta-information".

Reference: Wikipedia
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