Database Software
Store all your important data
Databases are computer programs that are collections of related information stored in a structured format. They are used by all large corporations and organizations, and many smaller companies and businesses as well. Many people also use them at home.
There are several different considerations when choosing database software. There are basic databases that are used by homes and very small businesses with limited needs, such as Microsoft Access.
Access comes as part of Microsoft Office, and is an actual file that can be opened and edited by a user. An Access database is limited in how much information it can store, and also in how many simultaneous users it can support.
Professional level databases are sometimes called relational databases. They are much more powerful than basic databases, and have vastly superior storage and usage capabilities; as well as enhanced security. However, they also have a much higher learning curve.
A computer hosting a relational database is a database server, and a relational database can often be the entire contents of that server; or even of many servers. A relational database is not a file that can be opened, edited, copied, or moved by simply clicking on it like a basic database. A relational database can be edited by a number of different methods, depending on what database it is.
Relational databases are powered by a language called SQL, or Structured Query Language, which was developed in the early 1970s by a researcher at IBM. It is a language made up of certain commands that work with the data inside a database.
All the major databases use SQL, but each one has its own version that has slight differences. The differences are slight enough not to cause database developers too much trouble, but they do allow for differences in performance of certain tasks that one database may do better than another.
The three biggest relational databases are:
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Oracle
- and MySQL
Microsoft SQL Server has the power of Microsoft Corporation behind it. It runs only on Windows operating systems, and is very expensive. However, it is incredibly powerful, very secure, and has a large number of features.
MS SQL's version of SQL is extremely capable and does many different transactions very efficiently, and is more powerful than the version used by MySQL. Understandably, it has the highest performance on Windows operating systems of the major databases.
MySQL is an open source database, which means it is free. Open source software typically has a very large support community of developers, and MySQL is no exception. It runs very well on all operating systems, and is very powerful while remaining light and fast.
Though MySQL emphasizes its light weight and speed, and thus has fewer features in its version of SQL, it is capable of running very large operations, such as Google, who recently switched from Oracle to save on operating costs.
Oracle is one of the biggest software companies in the world, and makes one of the most popular databases. Oracle can be run on all operating systems. It is the most expensive of the major relational databases, but also has the most powerful version of SQL.
In addition to this, Oracle performs better on non-Windows operating systems. Oracle's database also has been around longer than Microsoft, as it came out even earlier than the first database released by IBM.