The History and Contributions of Database Management Systems - Research Paper Example

The history and contributions of Database Management Systems Introduction Database Management Systems – DMS – have been related with the development of complex tasks referring to the storage, process or representation of data. In order to understand the value of DBMS it would be necessary to describe briefly the characteristics of these systems – at least as of their general context. In accordance with Ramakrishnan et al. (2003, 4) ‘a database is a collection of data typically describing the activities of one or more related organizations’. This collection of data is quite valuable for the development of tasks referring to various scientific or social fields. However, the power of databases to influence the structure and the progress of these activities may be limited because of potential failures – databases like all other information technology products may fail to meet the requirements set by their developer – or their administrator; the effects of this failure on the tasks based on the DBMS can be extremely negative. The examination of the history of DBMS can help to understand the potentials and the weaknesses of these systems. It should be noted that researchers and entrepreneurs have significantly supported DBMS; the contributions of DBMS to the development of various scientific, economic and social tasks have been the best rewarding for the individuals who actively supported the specific systems. Current paper focuses on the examination of these contributions and their effects on both sides – towards the science and the society as users of DBMS and towards these systems – as valuable parts of projects developed in various scientific, economic and social fields. 2. Vital organizations that contributed to the DBMS discipline One of the organizations that highly supported the development of DBMS has been IBM; the specific firm was the first that developed – in 1960s – a database management scheme, named as ‘Information Management System (IMS)’ (Ramakrishnan et al., 2003, 6). In fact, Information Management System has common characteristics with an existed – at that period – scheme, the hierarchical structure (Connolly et al., 2005, 24). It was also in the 1960s that another system – known as Integrated Data Store – appeared. At a next level, the further development of DBMS was achieved through the creation of a supportive scheme - referring to the support provided to the IMS – that could be used as an alternative framework for data representation; this scheme is known as ‘hierarchical data model’ (Ramakrishnan et al., 2003, 6). It was IBM that supported the further development of DBMS by introducing in 1970s a different scheme of data representation; the new scheme was called ‘relational data model’ (Ramakrishnan et al., 2003, 6) and was first developed by Ted Codd (Ward et al., 2006, 3). The role of IBM in the development can be characterized as being the most important from all other firms that operate in the specific sector. It was only after 30 years from the initial appearance of DBMS – around 1990s – that other firms – apart from IBM – showed their interest in adopting the specific technology. The most known ones have been Oracle Corporation – creator of the Oracle DBMS series - and Microsoft – the firm’s most known DBMS has been the SQL Server. It should be further noted that governmental organizations in USA also supported the development of DBMS – it was during the decade of 1980s; their support has been quite important for the increase of these systems’ value – in fact, it was an issue of official recognition of the specific systems. An indicative example is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which adopted SQL – the basic language for the development of DBMS. In the international community, SQL has been accepted as meeting the standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (Ramakrishnan et al., 2003, 6); this fact led to the further increase of the value of DBMS as systems for the storage, process and representation of data. 3. Vital contributions that were made in the field of DBMS One of the most important contributions in the field of DBMS has been the development of SQL – the systems’ programming language. SQL was developed in the decade of 1980s and is currently the fundamental programming language of many platforms that have been constructed using the DBMS framework (Ramakrishnan et al., 2003, 6). Before the appearance of SQL, the introduction of Information Management Systems –a form of DBMS – by IBM in 1960s can be characterized as one of the most important contributions to DBMS. Quite important for the future of DBMS has been the further development of SQL in order that the specific programming language is made applicable on different platforms – examples are Oracle and SQL Server, two different DBMS platforms with common programming language (Ward et al., 2006, 3-4). At a next level, firms that operate in the specific sector introduced XML; the particular programming language was developed in order to support the needs of DBMS that are used through the World Wide Web (Ward et al., 2006, 3-4). The improvement of SQL helped further to the increase of effectiveness of DBMS – the storage and process of large amount of data has been made possible while risks for failures have been minimized. At the same time, the development of more complex methods of data analysis was considered as necessary; an indicative example is the normalization of data and the database action diagram (Panneerselvam, 2003, 77, 122). 3.1 Impact of the contributions on DBMS and business The value of DBMS has been significantly increased through the years. The role of these systems remains almost the same – following the definition of Narang (2006) who supports that ‘the database is a way to consolidate and control the operational data centrally’ (Narang, 2006, 3). However, the level of use of DBMS has been increased – so does their credibility in storing, processing and representing data related with various scientific, economic and social fields. The support of researchers and the governments to the DBMS has been continuous since the first appearance of these systems. The main reason could be possibly identified to the need for information systems that can effectively handle a large amount of data and offer access to them whenever required without the risk of losing part of them. However, through the years as the amount of data stored and processed by DBMS was increased, the need for change in the structure of DBMS emerged – the result was the appearance of the object-oriented databases, which can be considered as offering more safety and credibility in the storage and process of complex data (Ward et al., 2006, 3). The development of object-oriented databases would not be possible without the active support of governments and individuals worldwide – for example the recognition of SQL by ISO led to the further development of the specific programming language. The contributions to DBMS led to the differentiation of the functionality of these systems. The specific issue is highlighted by Burleson (1998) who refer to the effects of four different DMBS schemes on the effectiveness of these systems. In this context, it is noted that the hierarchical model helped towards the development of relationships among data, the network database was used as a basis for the representation of complex data, the relational model was used for accessing declarative data while the object – oriented database emphasized on the relationship between the data and their behaviour (Burleson, 1998, 1). Through the development of different modes of data access, process and representation business activities were significantly supported – especially referring to those enterprises that use the Internet as a method of communication with customers locally or worldwide. 3.2 Modern examples in the DBMS field as a result of these contributions The continuous development of DBMS led to the creation of advanced DBMS schemes that can respond to demanding activities in relation with the process, storage and transmission of data. A characteristic example is the case of Relational Database Management Systems – RDBMS – that have been considered particularly helpful when dealing with a large amount of data and there is no time for long or complex procedures (Denley et al., 1989, 59). Currently, DBMS are used in a series of fields, including the financial sector – databases for the storage, process and transmission of financial data – the healthcare industry – databases used for gathering data on the patients in order for the progress of their health to be appropriately monitored. In the entertainment sector, a specific type of DBMS can be proved particular useful when having to store data that include image and voice – in this case, the Image Database System (Nabil et al., 1993, 409) can be used – other types of multimedia database systems are also available in the particular sector. Governmental authorities also use DBMS in order to respond to a series of tasks related with the administration of a particular public sector. The specific systems are also likely to be used in education, in order to keep record of the performance of students. In all the above cases, different methods of analysis of data are likely to be used in accordance with the needs of each particular case. As for example, the DBMS used by universities are expected to use the normalization as a method of data analysis – the use of other methods of data analysis, like the database action diagram cannot be rejected. 4. Conclusion The development of DBMS helped to the increase of the credibility of data processed and transmitted through various activities; the time required for the completion of a variety of tasks was also shortened. The history of DBMS has been rather short starting on the 1960s; however, their development has been radical – from the initial form of DBMS – the IMS by IBM – today there is the option for the use of the RDBMS which is differentiated from traditional DBMS mostly regarding its simplicity – the time required for the completion of relevant tasks and the credibility of data involved remain high. From 1990s onwards, many organizations supported the development of DBMS; however, it was IBM that first invested on the particular framework; the level of development of modern DBMS – like in the case of Oracle and SQL Server leads to the assumption that the contributions made towards the development of DBMS were completely justified. References Burleson, D. K. (1998). Inside the database object. CRC Press Connolly, T. & Begg, C. (2005). Database systems: a practical approach to design, implementation, and management. Pearson Education Denley, P. & Harvey, C. (1989). History and computing II. Manchester University Press ND. Drake, M. (2003). Encyclopedia of library and information science. CRC Press Lewis, M. & Jones, R. (1996). Using computers in history: a practical guide. Routledge Nabil, R. & Bharat, K. (1993). Advanced database systems. Springer Narang, R. (2006) Database Management Systems. PHI Learning Panneerselvam, R. (2003). Database Management Systems. PHI Learning Ramakrishnan, R. & Gehrke, J. (2003). Database management. McGraw-Hill Professional Ward, P. & Dafoulas, G. (2006). Database management systems. Cengage Learning EMEA Read More