History of Database Technology

A database is a structural set of related data that is organized in such a way that the information can be easily managed, accessed, and updated. The purpose of a database is to replace paper documents, files, and filing cabinets. The data collected in databases is an efficient way to store, retrieve, and analyze the information.

Second, Database is needed to take the collection of all sorts of sensitive data to organize, analyze, and extract data. It is the heart of many functions in today’s world. For example, when a password or user in a program it is checking the information type in against the information it stored in order to open the software. Databases solve most of the data management problems that are encountered.

UNIX systems use to use flat files for storing data. Word processors and spreadsheet software can create flat files. Health Care facilities might use this type of data file for posting employee phone lists.

This must be in your own words and not copied and pasted from the original source. Include the purpose of the database and the subject matter it covers. This may be four or five sentences; and

One of the main components of a database is characters. Characters are letters, numbers and punctuation marks. You are using characters when you are typing a sentence for example. Another main component would be fields. Fields separate data in defined fields. When data is being entered even if you don’t have an answer for all fields a space is still left but it would be blank. If you have ever seen an excel spreadsheet that would give you an idea of how data is lined out into different fields. Records are a main database component as well. Records are a group of fields that are about one thing. An example would be social security numbers in a database of patients. Each patient would have a social security number and each social security number is in a field. That field would have the same information which is that patients social security number even though every ones is different and there would be many listed depending on how many patients was in the database. Gartee, R. (2011).

A database is an ordered collection of associated information. Database has data that is connected to each other. For example, a database that comprises information about company stock prices must not also contain information about student.

The electronic database is a collection of information that is organised so this can be easily accessed, managed and updated. It is a collection of reports, tables, queries and reviews. This can be in the form of titles or subject for instance personal or involvements. Category or reference number and you can store a wide range of information by collating information alphabetically, numerical and chronological.

Whatis.com (2004) defines a database as "a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated." In my current job at Wellco Tank Trucks, Inc., we do not use any type of databases in the daily operations of our business. My only job that involved regular use of a database was at Chilcutt Direct Marketing (CDM) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. From February 2003 to June 2004, I was an Account Executive of Brokerage at CDM. CDM is a direct marketing company that manages and brokers customer mailing lists for companies across the United States.

Furthermore, it is our goal to ensure that all of the necessary visibility and metrics currently being used by each department remains as transparent as possible. The ability to manage and view the general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, inventories for each manufacturing vertical and project, and provide these through customized reports that should be not only tailored to each group but they should provide for greater control of the enterprise as a whole without the reliance on individual accounting teams to maintain accuracy and performance of their business units.

A database is used to store collections of information and easily retrieved at a later date. The larger the amount of information, the more organized a database needs to be. A database is created with the requirements and needs of current and future users and most importantly, with past users and their information. Out book defines database systems as “an organization of components that define and regulate the collection, storage, management, and use of data within a database environment”. (Database Systems, 2013)

As you recall, data is a collection of facts (numbers, text, even audio and video files) that is processed into usable information. Much like a spreadsheet, a database is a collection of such facts that you can then slice and dice in various ways to extract information or make decisions. However, the advantage and primary use of a database over a spreadsheet is its ability to handle a large volume of data and yet allow for quick access to the information that is desired.

The database itself is a compilation of information organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. Computer databases typically contain a collection of data records or files that allow users the ability to read/write access, specify report generation,

Databases allow us to easily store and retrieve data in a purely digital format. The strength of this is that large amounts of data can be stored and retrieved with minimal effort on the part of the user. Opposed to manually flipping through files, one can quickly pull up the requested data through a computer program. Many systems that were conventionally paper and file based have been converted to a digital format which are now stored in one or more databases.

As the use of computers, databases, and technology in general, security has grown to be a powerful tool that has to be used. The threat of outside sources intruding and exploiting crucial information is a threat that is present on a daily basis. As a part of creating and implementing a security policy, a user must consider access control. Access Control is a security tool that is used to control who can use or gain access to the protected technology. Access control security includes two levels; logical and physical. Though database intrusions can happen at any moment, access control provides another security barrier that is needed.

Data has always been analyzed within companies and used to help benefit the future of businesses. However, the evolution of how the data stored, combined, analyzed and used to predict the pattern and tendencies of consumers has evolved as technology has seen numerous advancements throughout the past century. In the 1900s databases began as “computer hard disks” and in 1965, after many other discoveries including voice recognition, “the US Government plans the world’s first data center to store 742 million tax returns and 175 million sets of fingerprints on magnetic tape.” The evolution of data and how it evolved into forming large databases continues in 1991 when the internet began to pop up and “digital storage became more cost effective than paper. And with the constant increase of the data supplied digitally, Hadoop was created in 2005 and from that point forward there was “14.7 Exabytes of new information are produced this year" and this number is rapidly increasing with a lot of mobile devices the people in our society have today (Marr). The evolution of the internet and then the expansion of the number of mobile devices society has access to today led data to evolve and companies now need large central Database management systems in order to run an efficient and a successful business.