Database Management Systems and the Types of Databases

DBMS – Database Management Systems

Any software application relies on databases for storing, organizing, and managing a large amount of data and uses database management systems that allow performing multiple tasks with ease. The invisible database is the backbone of any computer program without which the program can never run efficiently. Database management systems are highly important for businesses and organizations because it helps to handle and manage multiple types of data sets efficiently, which in turn improves business efficiency and performance.

Different types of databases are available for managing all kinds of data related to various business functions, from human resources to supply chain management to manufacturing and sales. All business activities are captured through data in the database, which helps in better monitoring and control of the various aspects of the business that leads to improved performance. As business activities keep growing, it generates more and more data that overloads the database.This necessitates its proper maintenance by a database administrator like the one you would find at RemoteDBA.com for ensuring the optimal and efficient performance of the database.

The landscape of the database has enormously evolved with time, and today there are many types of database management systems.

Hierarchical databases

The Hierarchical database management system developed by IBM in the early 1960s follows a parent-child relationship pattern in storing data. The system does not only contain the actual data but also contains information of the data groups in a parent-child relationship. The database follows a tree- structure in organizing data, and the data is stored in the form of clusters of fields with one value contained in each field. Links are used to connect the records by maintaining the parent-child relationship. In a hierarchical database, each child record connects to one parent, but a parent can have multiple children. For retrieving data from a field, it is necessary to traverse through each tree until you find the record. Although the database structure is simple, it lacks flexibility due to the parent-child relationship. However, fast accessibility and updating is an advantage of the database.

Network database

 As implied by the name, Network database management systems use the network structure to establish the relationship between entities.  These are hierarchical databases and primarily used on large computers. But it differs from the hierarchical databases because instead of a node having a single parent only, network nodes can have a relationship with several entities. The interconnected network of records looks more like a cobweb. In network database lingo, children are the members, and parents are the occupiers. Members may differ from one another in the number of parents they have. Some of the popular network databases are Integrated Database Management System (IDMS), Integrated Data Store (IDS), TurboImage, Raima Database Manager, and Univac DMS-1100.

Relational databases

In the relational database management system, the data is stored in a tabular form in rows and columns.  To raise a query in the database, you must use SQL or Structured Query Language to communicate with the database for inserting, deleting, updating, and searching records. Each table of the relational database has a key field that uniquely points to each row.  The key fields help to connect one table to another.  Relational databases are widely used because it requires little or no training to familiarize with it. Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, IBM DB2, and SQ Lite are some of the most popular relational databases.

Object-oriented model

Understanding the functionality of Object-oriented programming should help to understand the working of the object-oriented model. Object-oriented database management systems increase the semantics of Java and C++ and provide exhaustive database programming capabilities along with native language compatibility besides adding the functionality of the database to object programming languages. This is an analogical approach of the application and database development into a language environment of constant data model. Applications use more natural data modeling, require less code, and is easier to maintain codebases. Object developers can write a complete database application with some additional effort.

The object-oriented database is a derivative of the integration of the consistent systems and object-oriented programming language systems.

NoSQL databases

As the name implies, NoSQL databases do not make use of SQL as the primary language to access data. Some of the standard NoSQL databases are graph database, object database, network database, and document database. NoSQL databases do have a pre-defined schema, which makes it most suitable for development environments that encounter rapid changes. Developers can make changes to NoSQL whenever needed without affecting applications. Some of the most popular NoSQL databases are Cosmos DB, Arango DB, Couch DB, Couchbase Server, Mongo DB, Amazon Document DB, Informix, Elasticsearch, Neo4j, and SAP HANA.

Graph databases

This NoSQL database uses a graph structure for semantic queries. The database stores data in the form of nodes, properties, and edges. In a graph database, a node represents an instance or entity such as a car, a person, or a customer. The database system considers a node equal to a record, and Edge is the relationship that connects the nodes. Properties are additional information attached to the nodes.  Some of the popular graph databases are Azure Cosmos DB, Neo4j, Oracle Spatial and Graph, Sparksee, SAP HANA, Arango DB, MarkLogic, and Orient DB.  

ER Model databases

The Entity Relationship model database is a high-level database model used for defining the data elements and relationships for a specified system. It develops a conceptual design of the database and a simple view of data that is easy to design. The database structure is portrayed as a diagram that is named as an entity-relationship diagram. An entity may be any person, object, class, or place, and the attribute is useful to describe the entity’s property.

Document databases

The document databases belong to the category of NoSQL databases and stores data in the form of documents. Each document represents the data as well as its relationship with other data elements and data attributes.  Due to its document storage aspect and NoSQL properties that faster data storage and retrieval, these databases have become quite popular.

Author bio –

Kristen Smith is a web developer and experienced professional in database management and administration. She says you must deploy credible companies like RemoteDBA.com to help you maintain and secure any database system with success!