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Database Administration

An Information Webpage About Database Administration

What is database administration?

Database administration is a technical function that is responsible for physical database design and for dealing with technical issues. A little clearer definition would be it is the design and management of a database or databases. The database, which is an organized collection of logically related data, is managed by the Database Administrator, which is a person responsible for the physical design and mangement of the database and for the evaluation, selection, and implementation of the database management system (DBMS).

Database Management Systems

A database management system is what is used to perform database administration. The DBMS is a collection of programs that perform various functions that are needed to perform database administration to it's greatest possible potential. Some of the most common programs that are pretty much come standard with all DBMSs are programs that perform tasks that include updating the database, backing-up the database, design of the database, implementation, and scheduling of different tasks and transactions to be performed.

But what is a database used for?

A database can be used for all different sorts of things. It can be used to store a data on customers of a business, their purchase history, what items you sell, and a variety of other things. What most people don't realize is that they aren't directly accessing a database, but they do interact with databases everyday. Most websites on the Internet are backed by a database. This allows for a variety of different things, including:

• trends to be studied,
• lists of people or objects to be accessed,
• search results to be to be displayed based on sites that are more commonly visited.

Some of the largest and most commonly visited sites are the Internet use the MySQL DBMS. Some fo these sites include Google, Yahoo, YouTube, and Facebook. Take Facebook for example. It uses MySQL to store all of the users, as well as all of the users friends and connections. The common everyday user doesn't think about it and it would be hard for them to understand how it may truly work. But for someone that understands databases and how they can/are structured, the underlying Facebook database would be something that is very complex.

*: is Oracle Database 10g

Here are some of the most commonly used Database Management Systems (DBMS)

"The most important motivation for the research work that resulted in the relational model was the objective of providing a sharp and clear boundary between the logical adn physical aspects of database management."
-E.F. Codd, inventor of the relational model for database management

Here are some useful links for more information about Database Administration:

• Database Journal
• Database Administrator at ZDNet
• The Database Administration Newsletter

Image Sources

1. Title image taken from Patriot-Consulting
2. MySQL logo taken from the Wikipedia page on MySQL
3. Oracle logo taken from the Wikipedia page on Oracle Database
4. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 logo taken from the Wikipedia page on Microsoft SQL Server

Web page maintained by Patrick Goodwin