In most cases data is grouped and not used singly. A particularly system may have to function by using data from different sources. For easy access and manipulation of such data, a database is very much needed.

A database is a collection of information that is organized so that it can be easily accessed, managed and updated. Data is organized into rows, columns and tables, and it is indexed to make it easier to find relevant information. Data gets updated, expanded and deleted as new information is added.

You can’t talk about database without mentioning a database management system. It is a computer software application that interacts with the user, other applications, and the database itself to capture and analyze data. A general-purpose DBMS is designed to allow the definition, creation, querying, update, and administration of databases. Some very popular ones include MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and Sybase.

The Structured Query Language (SQL) is the standard user and application program interface for a relational database. Relational databases are easy to extend, and a new data category can be added after the original database creation without requiring that you modify all the existing applications.

Another very important kind of database is Cloud database. It is a database that has been optimized or built for a virtualized environment, either in a hybrid cloud, public cloud or private cloud. they provide scalability on demand, along with high availability.