By: Caryl B. Grecia
Data management comprises all
the disciplines related to managing data as a valuable resource. The official definition provided
by DAMA is that "Data Resource Management is the development and execution of architectures,
policies, practices and procedures that properly manage the full data lifecycle needs of an
enterprise." This definition is fairly broad and encompasses a number of professions which may not
have direct technical contact with lower-level aspects of data management, such as relational
database management.
Database management, which is also known as Data Administration is the total process of
managing, controlling, protecting, defining and organizing of all the data and entries in the
database.
It is programmed to generate desired information or to be given access to the gathered and
protective data of a company, identity or organization. The types vary from the company, identity
and organization it is applied to.
A database management system (DBMS) is a system or software designed to manage a database,
and run operations on the data requested by numerous clients. Typical examples of DBMS use include
accounting, human resources and customer support systems. DBMSs have more recently emerged as a
fairly standard part of any company back office.
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.
Article source: http://data-management.bestmanagementarticles.com/Article.aspx?id=418
