What is a data manager and what are its functions?
Database normalisation has become a vital process to survive in the age of data and data quality. But what do we need to do it? Do you know what a data manager is?
DBMS as a form of data quality assurance
A database management system (DBMS) is system software for creating and managing databases. This solution provides users and programmers with a systematic way to create, retrieve, update and manage their information. Accordingly, a data manager is the most effective way to detect duplicates and ensure data quality.
In addition, it allows end users to create, read, update and delete information in a database. It also serves as an interface between the database and end users or application programs; thus ensuring that data is organised in a consistent and easily accessible manner.
Functions of the Database Management System
The DBMS controls three vital elements: the information, the database engines that allow access, locking and modification of information, and the database schemas, which define the logical structures of the databases. In addition, these elements are essential to ensure data security and integrity, as well as uniformity in administration procedures.
Thus, typical database administration functions supported by the DBMS include change management, monitoring and recovery. Many database management systems are also responsible for mechanised restores, resets and recoveries, as well as analysis and activity monitoring.
It can therefore provide logical and physical independence of data. This means that it is able to protect users and applications from needing to know where data is stored or having to worry about changes in the physical structure of data, storage and hardware.
Popular types of DBMS
Popular database models and their management systems include:
- Relational database management system (RDBMS): fits most use cases, but can be quite expensive.
- In-memory database management system (MDBMS): provides faster response times and better performance.
- NoSQL DBMS: ideal for loosely defined data structures that may evolve over time.
- Columnar database management system (CDBMS): ideal for data warehouses that have a large number of similar data elements.
- Cloud-based data management system: the cloud service provider is responsible for providing and maintaining the DBMS.
Advantages of a DBMS
One of the main advantages of using a DBMS is that it allows end users and application developers to access and use the same data while managing data integrity.
Thus, data is better protected and maintained when it can be shared using such a solution rather than creating new iterations of the same data stored in new files for each new application. It also provides a central repository of data that can be accessed by multiple users in a controlled manner. Central storage and data management within the DBMS provides:
- Data abstraction and independence.
- Data security.
- A locking mechanism for concurrent access.
- An efficient handler to balance the needs of multiple applications using the same data.
- The ability to recover quickly from crashes and errors, including restart capability and resiliency.
- Robust data integrity capabilities.
- Activity logging and auditing.
- Simple access via a standard application programming interface (API).
- Uniform data management procedures.
Another advantage is that it can be used to impose a logical and structured organisation on data. In this sense, it offers economy of scale for processing large amounts of data because it is optimised for such operations.
Single schema views
On the other hand, it can provide many views of a single database schema. A view defines what data the user sees and how that user sees the data. Thus, the database management system provides a level of abstraction between the conceptual schema that defines the logical structure of the database and the physical schema that describes the files, indexes and other physical mechanisms used by the database.
When used, systems can be modified much more easily when business requirements change. Thus, new categories of data can be added to the database without disrupting the existing system and applications can be isolated from how data is structured and stored.
At DEYDE we work to achieve data standardisation in a fast and easy way, adapted to the needs of our customers. Do not hesitate to contact us to design an effective action plan.
