In this article, we will describe in detail the types of database software, and analyze the best alternatives.
The purpose of using Database software
In today’s world, almost every modern company cannot do without the use of databases in their activities. Databases (DB) – a very important and valuable asset for any company. As personal or confidential data can be stored in the database, it is necessary to treat their protection very responsibly. A database is an organized structure designed to store information: data and methods by which it interacts with other software and hardware complexes.
Database management software (DBMS) is a set of software designed to create a structure, fill it with content, edit content and visualize information. Visualization of database information means the selection of data displayed in accordance with a given criterion, their organization, design, and subsequent issuance to the output device or transmission via communication channels.
The database must meet the following requirements:
- Reproducibility – the availability of support mechanisms data recovery capabilities after a system failure.
- Integrity – internal unity, the connection of all parts data; the state in which the data stored in the database is displayed properties of the real world and are subject to the rules of mutual consistency.
- Security – data protection from authorized and unauthorized access.
In order to effectively manage databases, database software is used. The main functions of the database software include:
- providing language tools for describing and manipulating data;
- providing support for the logical data model;
- ensuring the interaction of logical and physical data structures;
- ensuring data protection and integrity;
- providing database support in the current state;
- database administration;
- data management in external memory;
- transaction management.
Types of database software
Some of the more popular systems are:
- MySQL
It is one of the most popular and widespread DBMS used by many companies (for example, Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, LinkedIn, Alibaba, and others). MySQL is a free software relational database management system licensed under the terms of the GNU Public License. Typically, this database management system is defined as good, fast and flexible, recommended for use in small to medium-sized projects. As in the case of MySQL, PostgreSQL is based on the SQL language, however, unlike MySQL, PostgreSQL supports the SQL-2011 standard. This DBMS has no restrictions on either the maximum size of the database or the maximum number of records or indexes in a table.
- Oracle
It is a system that has been stable for more than a dozen years, so it is the choice of corporations for which reliability of disaster recovery, a streamlined backup procedure, scalability, and other valuable features are important. In addition, this DBMS provides excellent security and effective data protection. Unlike other DBMSs, the cost of purchasing and using Oracle is quite high, and this is often a significant obstacle to its use in small firms.
- MongoDB
This DBMS differs in that it is designed to store hierarchical data structures, and therefore it is called document-oriented (it is document storage without the use of tables or schemas). MongoDB is open source. Using an identifier, you can perform quick operations on an object. Also, this DBMS shows itself well in complex interactions. First of all, we are talking about performance – in some cases, an application written in MongoDB will work faster than the same application using SQL, because MongoDB belongs to the class of NoSQL DBMS and uses an object query language, which is much lighter than SQL.