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  2. Introduction to DBMS | Information Technology - 10

Data and Information:

Data: Data refers to raw, unorganized facts or figures that are collected and stored. It can be in the form of numbers, text, images, or any other type of input.

Information: Information is the processed and organized form of data. It is the data that has been analyzed, structured. It provides meaning and can be used to answer questions or make decisions.

Databases and DBMS:

Database: A database is a collection of logically related data items stored in an organised manner. The information being stored in a database can be added, modified, deleted or displayed according to the requirements of the user.

DBMS: Database Management System (DBMS) is the software that is used to create, update and retrieve data is known as database management system (DBMS). Some of the common examples of DBMS are MS Access, Base (Open Office or LibreOffice), Oracle, Ingress, MySQL, MSSQL, etc.

Advantages of DBMS:

  1. Organised Storage: The data in the database is stored in an organised manner, so that retrieval of the required data is fast and accurate.
  2. Data Analysis: A database helps in analysis of data based on certain criteria. It is easy to find out maximum or minimum value, average or mean using a database.
  3. Data Sharing: If the same data set is required for different applications then the database can be shared with other applications. Hence using a database means making once and using it repeatedly for multiple applications.
  4. Minimal Data Redundancy: “Data redundancy (Duplicate data) means storing the same data in multiple places.”
    In case of requiring the same data field in several tables, the data field might get repeated in number of tables. This is called as data redundancy. This can be minimizes or reduced by using DBMS.
  5. Data Consistency: “Data Consistency refers to the accuracy, reliability, and uniformity of data across all systems and databases.”
    By minimising data redundancy, chances of inconsistent data being stored are reduced.
  6. Increases Efficiency: Since database tables are properly organised, saving, reading and searching data can be carried out efficiently.
  7. Increases Accuracy: Since data redundancy and inconsistency can be minimised in a database, the data is retrieved accurately from the database.
  8. Security:
    • Unauthorised access can be controlled by assigning passwords to the users.
    • The data might be translated in such a manner that unauthorised users are not able to read it. This is known as encryption.
      Both these measures increase the security of the database.