Managing data resources

Database management system (DBMS)

A database management system (DBMS) is a collection of programs that enables you to store, modify, and extract information from a database. There are many different types of database management systems, ranging from small systems that run on personal computers to huge systems that run on mainframes.

Examples of Database Applications

The following are examples of database applications:

computerized library systems

automated teller machines

flight reservation systems

computerized parts inventory systems

Definition :A database management system (DBMS) is system software for creating and managing databases. The DBMS provides users and programmers with a systematic way to create, retrieve, update and manage data. 

Data Resource management may be thought of as a managerial activity that applies information system and other data management tools to the task ofmanaging an organization's data resource to meet a company's business needs, and the information they provide to their shareholders.

Data resource management involves the management of files and computer data for businesses and companies.

Organizations use large amounts of data. Database management makes it possible to organize and analyze these data. Learn why database management is important to support business operations.

Organizations Use Data

Organizations use large amounts of data. These data can be related to the people who work for the organization, its products or services, the customers or any other aspect of the operations of the organization. The data need to be organized in a way that supports decision-making. The most common data types are text and numbers, but data can also include images, photographs, sound, video and other types. Data are organized in a database.

Library Example

Let's consider an example of how databases are used. Think of a public library. A library contains books, magazines, CDs, DVDs and other materials. All these materials need to be catalogued so we know what is available in the library. For each item, the catalog would describe things like the type of item, the title, the authors, the publishers and other relevant details. The catalog also needs to be searchable, so the librarian typically assigns some keywords to each item. The library catalog is a type of database.

Data Resource Management Job Duties

Data resource management, also known as data administration, deals with computer science and information systems. Workers in this field help design, control, protect, store, administer and organize saved data. Normally, this information is stored on databases with database management systems or software. This data can be accessed by members of the organization with the right clearance via their computers.

 A DBMS makes it possible for end users to create, read, update and delete data in a database. The DBMS essentially serves as an interface between the database and end users or application programs, ensuring that data is consistently organized and remains easily accessible.

The DBMS manages three important things: the data, the database engine that allows data to be accessed, locked and modified -- and the database schema, which defines the database’s logical structure. These three foundational elements help provide concurrency, security, data integrity and uniform administration procedures. Typical database administration tasks supported by the DBMS include change management, performance monitoring/tuning and backup and recovery. Many database management systems are also responsible for automated rollbacks, restarts and recovery as well as the logging and auditing of activity.

The DBMS is perhaps most useful for providing a centralized view of data that can be accessed by multiple users, from multiple locations, in a controlled manner. A DBMS can limit what data the end user sees, as well as how that end user can view the data, providing many views of a single database schema. End users and software programs are free from having to understand where the data is physically located or on what type of storage media it resides because the DBMS handles all requests.

The DBMS can offer both logical and physical data independence. That means it can protect users and applications from needing to know where data is stored or having to be concerned about changes to the physical structure of data (storage and hardware). As long as programs use the application programming interface (API) for the database that is provided by the DBMS, developers won't have to modify programs just because changes have been made to the database.

With relational DBMSs (RDBMSs), this API is SQL, a standard programming language for defining, protecting and accessing data in a RDBMS.

Advantages of a DBMS

Using a DBMS to store and manage data comes with advantages, but also overhead. One of the biggest advantages of using a DBMS is that it lets end users and application programmers access and use the same data while managing data integrity. Data is better protected and maintained when it can be shared using a DBMS instead of creating new iterations of the same data stored in new files for every new application. The DBMS provides a central store of data that can be accessed by multiple users in a controlled manner.

Central storage and management of data within the DBMS provides:

·         Data abstraction and independence

·         Data security

·         A locking mechanism for concurrent access

·         An efficient handler to balance the needs of multiple applications using the same data

·         The ability to swiftly recover from crashes and errors, including restartability and recoverability

·         Robust data integrity capabilities

·         Logging and auditing of activity

·         Simple access using a standard application programming interface (API)

·         Uniform administration procedures for data

Another advantage of a DBMS is that it can be used to impose a logical, structured organization on the data. A DBMS delivers economy of scale for processing large amounts of data because it is optimized for such operations.

A DBMS can also provide many views of a single database schema. A view defines what data the user sees and how that user sees the data. The DBMS provides a level of abstraction between the conceptual schema that defines the logical structure of the database and the physical schema that describes the files, indexes and other physical mechanisms used by the database. When a DBMS is used, systems can be modified much more easily when business requirements change. New categories of data can be added to the database without disrupting the existing system and applications can be insulated from how data is structured and stored.

Of course, a DBMS must perform additional work to provide these advantages, thereby bringing with it the overhead. A DBMS will use more memory and CPU than a simple file storage system. And, of course, different types of DBMSes will require different types and levels of system resources.

data warehouse,data marts, data analysis, data mining