Oracle Database Management System Data Management example essay topic

Oracle- Database Management System Data management is an extraordinarily old craft. Aristotle's scheme of interlocking classifications of knowledge in his work Physica is a data-management effort. In the early 1800's the Jacquard loom used holes punched in paper cards to represent instructions for controlling the action of a loom. These cards became the basis for Herman Hollerith's card-sorting device, used for the 1890 U.S. census web Many database programs were designed around the physical cards: the maximum information that could be encoded on a punch card became the length of a standard record. In 1970 Ted Code researched and documented for IBM a "mathematically consistent and complete way of managing and retrieving information". This research provided what is known today as "the relational model of data for large shared data banks". web relations / news /history. htm.

To make it possible to create databases with customized menus and specialized forms, database management programs emerged. The Oracle Corporation, the second largest independent software company, was founded in 1977 by Larry Ellison, Oracle's current Chairman, President and CEO, Bob Miner (died in 1994) and Ed Oates, who currently serves as advisor for several startups. Under the original moniker, Relational Software Inc., or RSI, Ellison, Miner and Oates created the first commercial SQL (Structured Query Language) database - V 2 - based entirely on published research by IBM. http: //160.111. 7.240/resource / tours /comp hist / le 1. html Oracle is one of the largest software developers and leading manufacturers of database management systems (DBMS) utilized in many if not all computer processing. What is a database? Simply stated, a database is a compilation of information that has been organized or grouped.

Databases are created to control and manage organized information. Databases are usually constructed on computers, but an elaborate paper filing system is also a type of database. Examples of paper databases are encyclopedias, telephone listings, or MLA listings. DBMS allow users to create, update, and extract information from their databases (web). In addition to Oracle, other examples of electronic database management systems are d Base, Paradox, and IMS. Database management systems are software packages designed to store and manage data.

Oracle is a database management system set up to achieve user efficiency. Original databases lacked standardization; data could only be moved between databases created with the same data-management software web Advantages of DBMS are easy and quick retrieval of information, effortless manipulation of information to assist with reporting in any order, control of data (which fields and records) are displayed at any one time. Database standards began to emerge in the late 1970's; it's now common to move large quantities of data from one program to another. DBMS ensure data availability, quick application development, and crash recovery. Utilizing DBMS also ensures simultaneous execution of multiple programs. "In 1976 computer software designer Wayne Ratliff, working at the NASA Ames Research Center, began to design a construction kit program for building databases on personal computers" web Its most valuable component was the d base procedural language, based in part on DB 2, a mainframe database. d base became one of the top selling computer programs for personal use.

Dozens of database management programs are now available with their own procedural languages built in. Oracle's eccentric, often outspoken CEO, offered the most recent one million dollar 'bet-the-company strategy. ' He challenged companies to try Oracle 9 i Application server and 8 i Database and to promote their capabilities they ran web sites faster than the IBM DB 2 or Microsoft SQL servers. If within three months they are successful he " ll give that company one million dollars web saves records relating to each other in a table.

Every table has a field or a combination of fields that uniquely identifies each record in the table. The field names of each record in the table are the same, although the field values may differ. (web) An Oracle database is basically tables grouped together, uniquely identified by a primary key, or simply a key. The primary key provides the means to identify, locate, and refer to one particular record in the table. The database design team determines the best candidate field for the primary key. Oracle DBMS won't allow more than one record in the table with the same value for the primary key. (web). When a field in one table matches the primary key of another table, the field is referred to as a foreign key web).

Oracle maintains consistency by linking multiple tables which prevents a user from deleting a table that still contains valid fields. Database management systems transfer data from a disk to the main memory or what is called the Random Access Memory (RAM). RAM, named because a computer user can quickly go to any part of the main memory to reach the desired data. The computer can manipulate only data that is in main memory. Therefore, every program and file that you access must be copied from a storage device into the main memory. The amount of main memory on a computer is crucial because it determines how many programs can be executed and how much data is readily available to a program.

RAM is used to store data or instructions temporarily, while they are being used or changed by the user. For example, a letter being created using a word-processing program or a game being played is stored in RAM. The larger the capacity of RAM, the greater the number of bytes it can hold the more efficient the computer. Higher amounts of RAM make it possible for a user to have several programs open simultaneously, and to perform memory-intensive tasks such as editing digital video.

The reasons why DBMS provide these capabilities are because the main memory is volatile. By the early 2000's, typical personal computers being sold had between 256 megabytes (million bytes) and 1 gigabyte (trillion bytes) of RAM web Most RAM is volatile, which means that it requires a steady flow of electricity to maintain its contents. As soon as the power is turned off, data stored in RAM is lost. Oracle is known as a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). A key feature of Oracle is its ability to link data in multiple tables. Oracle stores data in two or more tables that enable you to define relationships between them.

The link between the tables is based on one or more field values common to both tables. (web). Relational databases are equivalent to paper charts or tables. Relational databases are based on relational mathematics. Each element in the table relates or associates an element from one list with an element from the other. Many personal computer databases fit this form.

When information is too complex to fit into a single table, multiple-table relational databases are used to link several tables together. A relational database manipulates only tables and the result of all operations are also tables. The tables are sets, which are themselves sets of rows and columns. You can view the database itself as a set of tables.

In a library database for example, a single book may relate to several subject categories. The database would include one table for the name, address, and publisher of the book and a second table for subject categories, sharing the fields they have in common. A third table might list the library's patrons and the books they currently have borrowed. Multiple-file database speed, versatility, and degree of control have made this type of database prominent in businesses web database, generally a large collection of data is stored by Oracle in a field.

Oracle relates individual fields together to form a single unit of data called a record. Each record consists of many specified fields two of which are never identical. A typical database is designed around a central core list of facts grouped in discrete records. In a telephone book each person's entry is one record.

Records, in turn, contain fields, each with a different type of information: in a telephone book one field is slotted for a last name, another field for a first name, a third for an address, and a fourth for the phone number. Fields make an electronic database search able web name of the field reflects its contents, thus anyone can query a specific record using a single word web An electronic database can also be sorted by one or more fields. All databases permit users to add new information or to update old records. Computer forms were designed to streamline the task of entering and editing information. Social Security fields for instance, are set up so that a user is only allowed the correct number of digits. Databases use commands to sort records that help people retrieve and print reports.

Both forms and reports may look very different from the primary data structure, even though they contain the same information which is usually kept hidden from the user. (web). Every database management system defines its field naming conventions. New fields and records can be added at any time. Whenever building a database it's best to organize all the required fields Electronic databases use a 'search' or 'query' language to help users retrieve records.

Often, the commands incorporate Boolean logic (see Boolean algebra). For example, requesting all entries with "yellow" or "cabs" will produce entries containing either term but also entries containing statistics of yellow cab accidents in all research cities. Thus, query languages include a term such as 'NOT' (as in 'yellow' AND 'cab' NOT 'accidents in New York') to allow users to screen out unwanted entries. The standard user and application program interface of a relational database is the structured query language (SQL).

SQL statements are used both for interactive queries for information from a relational database and for gathering data for reports. Personal calendars, address books, and recipes are examples of some of the many databases kept on home or home-office computers by individuals. Using local area networks, office workers are capable of tapping into one another's databases for accounting information or company dire stories. Mainstream business and government agencies use databases for their own purposes, and also maintain data banks of, for example, credit information, legal citations, and technical data for use by outsiders.

Many of these outsiders are connected by modem and telephone lines. Others use terminals to tap into vast centralized databases in office buildings. Backing up a database is a rather mundane but necessary task, only after losing business-critical data do you began to understand its importance. Oracle 8 introduced the Recovery Manager (RMAN) for the server-managed backup and recovery of the database. RMAN can automatically locate, back up, restore, and recover data files, control files, and archived redo logs. web url = red ir%3 Fsr c%3 D websearch%26 requested%3 Df 06 a 0 baba 93 b 870 b%26 clickedItemRank%3 D 3%26 user Query%3 Relational%2 Database%26 clickedItemURN%3 Http%253 A%252 F%252 Fsearchdatabase. tech target. com%252 FsDefinition%252 F 0%252 C%252 Csid 13 g ci 212885%252 C 00. html%26 invocation Type%3 D-%26 from Page%3 DNSCPIndex 2%26 amp%3 BampTest%3 D 1&remove url = http%3 A%2 F%2 Fsearchdatabase. tech target. com%2 FsDefinition%2 F 0%2 C%2 Csid 13 g ci 212885%2 C 00. html. RMAN will not only know where to look for the files associated with the backups, but will also determine which database files are necessary for a successful recovery.

Oracle recommends that you always use a recovery catalog. For larger systems the use of a recovery catalog can increase the backup performance. Also if the target database control files are lost, recovery can become difficult if not impossible. The recovery catalog can be created in an existing database that contains other data as long as it is not the target database. web basics. shtml Oracles diversified offerings, ranging from data management, applications, servers and development tools, as well as its other consulting and education services, have analysts presuming that Oracle will at some point bump Microsoft from its well-known number one software supplier position.

In many corporations the question of control over databases is a bureaucratic issue, sometimes with legal implications. Someone who keeps a record of information about employees on his or her personal computer will often find that the data is legally considered part of personnel records, subject to subpoena in a grievance hearing over non promotion. As expert systems improve, databases will increasingly take a role as sources of information for the general public. Databases will also include multimedia 'objects's uch as sound and video. As databases grow in sophistication, the need for critical awareness of databases will become more important. Users will need to be able to discern which database information has come from and how reliable it is.