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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).
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.
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:
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.
| DBMS | Supported Operating Systems | Price |
| MySQL | Windows Linux Mac OS X Solaris i5/OS FreeBSD HP-UX AIX |
Free |
| Oracle 11g | Windows 2000 with Service Pack 1 or later All editions of Windows Server 2003 All editions of Windows Server 2003 R2 Windows XP Professional Windows Vista-Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate Editions |
Enterprise Edition: $9,500 per processor for 1 year Standard Edition: $3,500 per processor for 1 year Standard Edition One: $1,160 per processor for 1 year Express Edition*: Free |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2008 | All versions of Windows Server 2003 and 2008 Windows XP Windows Vista Windows 7 |
Datacenter Edition: $54,990 per processor Enterprise Edition: $27,495 per processor Standard Edition: $7,171 per processor Workgroup Edition: $3,743 per processor Web Edition: $3,500 per processor Express and Compact Edition: Free |
*: is Oracle Database 10g
"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
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