Introduction to Common Database Terminologies

Before diving into the architectural patterns of databases, let’s define some of the core terminology used for databases

Data is a synonym for information. In the computing world, this information is usually stored in a binary format (using 0s and 1s) that the computer can understand.

Database versus database management system

A database is an organized collection of data stored on a computer or a cluster of computers.

Database management systems (DBMS) are suites of software systems built on top of the database, that act as an interface between the database and end users. DBMS exposes multiple interfaces or APIs, allowing end users to store, retrieve, and manipulate data. In addition, a DBMS provides a suite of functionalities around transactions, recovery, backups, concurrency, authentication and authorization, metadata catalog, and more