A database system is not a standalone thing. Still, it consists of all components that control and regulate the data sources, data collection, storage devices, data management, and data usage in the database management environment. Data security is collecting preventive measures to protect data from any unauthorized access, corruption, leakage, or theft, etc. From the operational point of view, database systems are composed of five parts as below.

• Hardware: It is the computer, network components, and allied devices.

• Software: Including the operating system, files, utilities, file management systems, applications, and programs to generate reports from databases.

• People: Data specialists, administrators, programmers, and database users.

• Procedures: The policies and rules which govern the design and usage of the hardware and software components.

• Data: The collection of all enterprise information.

An ideal database system will combine all this relevant information and provide ways to collect, store, and maintain all this information at a central location.

Parts of a database system

1. Database Management System (DBMS) is a program that organizes all the lists of information and maintains it.

2. Database Application, which is the program that lets you interact with the database and add, view, retrieve, and update information stored in the database management systems.

A DBMS is the platform on which the database system is based, which can be classified based on the number of users on it and based on the site locations and extent of use. The number of users of a database system determines whether DBMS is a single-user or multi-user system. Single-user DBMS’ support only a single user at a time. If the database runs on a personal computer, it is ideally called a desktop database, a single-user DB.

On the other hand, a multi-user DB supports more than one user by enabling simultaneous access and action to the database. If such a multiuser database supports only a limited number of users within a specific department inside an organization, it is known as a workgroup database. The larger databases, which are accessed by the users enterprise-wide, across many departments and locations, are known as an enterprise database.

Database site location is also used to classify the DBMS. For example, a database system that supports a database located at a single site is called a centralized database management system. A DBMS that supports databases distributed across various locations are known as distributed DBMS. The types of computer systems that a database can run are broken down into four broader categories: centralized, PC-centered, client-server DBs, and distributed databases. For identifying the appropriate database model for your organization, consult expert providers like RemoteDBA.com.

Database systems explained

1. Centralized database processing system

In centralized database processing systems, all the programs run on a major hosting computer, which includes DBMS, database application used to access and manipulate the database, and the network and communication facilities that send and receive data to and from the user terminals. Users can access the database through various connected locally or dial-up terminals.

2. Personal Computer

As we have seen above, when the DBMS is located on the local PC, it acts as both the host and user system. The database management functions and the database application are all combined into a single application. The PC’s database applications can handle all the user input and screen output and can access data on the disk. Combining all these functions into a single unit will give the database processing systems great control and flexibility, and speed. This further helps to reduce cost and also can decrease data integrity and security.

However, all recent enterprises are connected over Local Area Networks (LANs), and all individual computers function as a part of LAN. In a LAN, the user applications may reside on a File Server, a PC that runs a special Network Operating System (NOS) like Microsoft’s LAN Manager, Novell’s NetWare, or Windows NT, etc.

3. Client/Server DBMS

In the generalized approach to database management, the client PC is the computer from which the users request data and information. In contrast, the server offers the requested information delivered to the client’s PC. Database applications on the client PC are known as the front-end, which handles the screen operations and the user input-output processes.

The database server handles the “back-end system” of the client/server databases, where the server handles data processing based on the client queries and access the data storage disk. A user at the front end typically raises a query for the data from the DB server, and the front-end application then sends that request to the server through the network. The database server runs the DB search based on the query and sends back only the needed data against it back to the user.

4. Distributed processing systems

It is a simple form of distributed processing that has been there for many years. In the basic form of distributed systems, the data is shared among various host systems through updates and sent through a direct connection on the same network or through remote connections over the internet.

Data security

In the case of any database processing systems, data security is the major challenge for the database administrators. Secured data needs to be transferred from one server to another over the network at greater distances. For taking care of data piracy on data mining, appropriate security measures are necessary to be implemented. A very common method of data security is using user and password verification for data access. Data security needs to be implemented as a preventative measure in any database administration plan to protect your valuable enterprise data from theft, unauthorized access, or corruption.

All enterprises which deal with data and database management systems need to take appropriate measures to ensure data security as a priority. There are various vendors also offering data security support and plenty of tools to ensure the same. However, when it comes to data security, an organization needs to have its policies and procedures to ensure that the integrity and confidentiality of its data are protected well.