<!doctypehtml><html lang=en><meta charset=utf-8><meta content=width=device-width,initial-scale=1 name=viewport><meta content="concepts of database management systems, fundamentals, database management system, web based database, home, create, design"name=keywords><meta content="Learn the basic concepts of database management systems with this database tutorial."name=Description><link href=https://www.quackit.com/database/tutorial/database_management_systems.cfm rel=canonical><title>
   Database Management Systems
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Generally, these databases will be more complex than the text file/spreadsheet example in the previous lesson. In fact, most of today's database systems are referred to as a <dfn> Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) </dfn> , because of their ability to store related data across multiple tables.<p>Some of the more popular relational database management systems include:<ul><li><a href=https://www.quackit.com/microsoft_access/tutorial/> Microsoft Access </a><li>Filemaker<li><a href=https://www.quackit.com/sql_server/tutorial/> SQL Server </a><li><a href=https://www.quackit.com/mysql/tutorial/> MySQL </a><li>Oracle<li><a href=https://www.quackit.com/sqlite/tutorial/> SQLite </a></ul><p>Throughout this tutorial, you will become familiar with some of the key concepts of database management systems. These include:<ul><li>Database creation<li>Tables<li>Adding data to your database<li>Querying a database<li>Relational database design</ul><h2>What Does a Database Management System Look Like?</h2><p>Some database management systems include a graphical user interface that allows you to create and maintain databases by "pointing and clicking".<p>Other database systems use a command line interface that requires that you use certain programming commands to create and maintain your databases.<p>But most command line database systems also provide the option of installing graphical admin tools that allow you to "point and click" your way through most tasks.<p>Different systems look different, but generally, there are a number of common features that you'll usually see across most of them.<p>Here are three popular examples:<ul class=steps><li><figure><a data-lightbox=database_management_systems href=https://www.quackit.com/pix/database/tutorial/database_management_systems_access.png target=_blank> <img alt="Screenshot of Microsoft Access Database Management System."class="screenshot steps"src=https://www.quackit.com/pix/database/tutorial/database_management_systems_access.png> </a><figcaption><h3>Microsoft Access</h3> <p>This is what Microsoft Access 2016 looks like. In this example, a table called <samp> Artists </samp> is open, displaying its contents.</p> <p>The top part of the screen contains a toolbar (in Access, this is called the Ribbon).</p> <p>The left navigation pane contains the database objects for the current database. If a different database was open, it might contain different objects.</p> <p>Database objects include things like Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Macros, etc.</p> <p>Some of these options are common across all database management systems. All database systems allow you to create tables, build queries, design a new database, and open an existing database.</p></figcaption></figure><li><figure><a data-lightbox=database_management_systems href=https://www.quackit.com/pix/database/tutorial/database_management_systems_sql_server.png target=_blank> <img alt="Screenshot of SQL Server Management Studio."class="screenshot steps"src=https://www.quackit.com/pix/database/tutorial/database_management_systems_sql_server.png> </a><figcaption><h3>Microsoft SQL Server</h3> <p>Microsoft SQL Server is a more robust database management system than Access. While Access is better suited to home and small office use, SQL Server is more suited to enterprise applications such as corporate CRMs and websites etc.</p> <p>The above screen is what you see when you open SQL Server through SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). SSMS is a built-in tool for managing SQL Server and its databases. As with Access, it has a toolbar along the top, and a left navigation pane (called the Object Explorer) for browsing objects. The Object Explorer also lists all databases on the server that you're connected to.</p></figcaption></figure><li><figure><a data-lightbox=database_management_systems href=https://www.quackit.com/pix/database/tutorial/database_management_systems_mysql.png target=_blank> <img alt="Screenshot of MySQL Workbench."class="screenshot steps"src=https://www.quackit.com/pix/database/tutorial/database_management_systems_mysql.png> </a><figcaption><h3>MySQL</h3> <p>MySQL is a competitor to SQL Server. It is the world's most popular open source database management system.</p> <p>MySQL has an optional graphical admin tool called MySQL Workbench. MySQL Workbench is similar to SQL Server Management Studio, in that it allows you to do most tasks via the GUI (Graphical User Interface).</p></figcaption></figure></ul><h2>Which Database System to Use?</h2><p>If you are using a database for home or small office use, Microsoft Access or Filemaker should be fine. If you need to create a database driven website, then you're better off using a more robust system such as SQL Server, MySQL, or Oracle.<p>The examples in this tutorial use Microsoft Access. If you don't have Microsoft Access, you should still be able to follow the examples. The tasks we perform are the same tasks you would need to perform regardless of which database management system you use. The key goal with this tutorial is to provide you with an overview of what is involved in creating and maintaining a database.<ul class=pager><li><a href=https://www.quackit.com/database/tutorial/what_is_a_database.cfm> <i class="fa fa-long-arrow-left"aria-hidden=true> </i> What Is a Database? </a><li><a href=https://www.quackit.com/database/tutorial/creating_a_database.cfm> Creating a Database <i class="fa fa-long-arrow-right"aria-hidden=true> </i> </a></ul><div class="ad ad-bottom"><script async src=//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js></script><ins class="adsbygoogle responsive-bottom"data-ad-client=ca-pub-6331358926293806 data-ad-format=auto data-ad-slot=4873379751 style=display:block> </ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script></div></article><div class=sidebar><nav><ul><li><h3><a href=/database/tutorial/> <i class="fa fa-database"> </i> Database Tutorial </a></h3> <ul><li><a href=/database/tutorial/what_is_a_database.cfm> What is a Database? </a><li><a href=/database/tutorial/database_management_systems.cfm> Database Management Systems </a><li><a href=/database/tutorial/creating_a_database.cfm> Creating a Database </a><li><a href=/database/tutorial/about_database_tables.cfm> About Database Tables </a><li><a href=/database/tutorial/creating_database_tables.cfm> Creating Database Tables </a><li><a href=/database/tutorial/adding_data_to_database.cfm> Adding Data to a Database </a><li><a href=/database/tutorial/querying_a_database.cfm> Querying a Database </a><li><a href=/database/tutorial/relational_database_design.cfm> Relational Database Design </a><li><a href=/database/tutorial/nosql_databases.cfm> NoSQL Databases </a><li><a href=/database/tutorial/database_driven_website.cfm> Database Driven Website </a><li><a href=/database/tutorial/database_summary.cfm> Summary </a></ul><li><h3><a href=/database/> <i class="fa fa-database"> </i> Other DB Tutorials </a></h3> <ul><li><a title="Structured Query Language"href=/sql/tutorial/> SQL Tutorial </a><li><a href=/sqlite/tutorial/> SQLite Tutorial </a><li><a title="Open source DB management system"href=/mysql/tutorial/> MySQL Tutorial </a><li><a title="Microsoft SQL Server"href=/sql_server/tutorial/> SQL Server Tutorial </a><li><a title="Microsoft Access"href=/microsoft_access/tutorial/> Access Tutorial </a><li><a title="Document-store database for big data."href=/mongodb/tutorial/> MongoDB Tutorial </a><li><a title="Graph database management system for big data."href=/neo4j/tutorial/> Neo4j Tutorial </a></ul></ul></nav><div class="ad ad-left"><script async src=//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js></script><ins class=adsbygoogle data-ad-client=ca-pub-6331358926293806 data-ad-format=auto data-ad-slot=7187717753 style=display:block> </ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script></div></div><div class=ads><div class="ad ad-right"><script async src=//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js></script><ins class=adsbygoogle data-ad-client=ca-pub-6331358926293806 data-ad-format=auto data-ad-slot=9157690018 style=display:block> </ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script></div></div></div><div class=searchbox-bottom><form action=/search/ class=site-search id=cse-search-box-bottom><div><input name=cx type=hidden value=partner-pub-6331358926293806:npmuvy-i8kk><input name=cof type=hidden value=FORID:10><input name=ie type=hidden value=ISO-8859-1><input class=site-search-input name=q size=30><button class=site-search-button name=sa><i class="fa fa-search"> </i></button></div></form><script src=//cse.google.com/cse/brand?form=cse-search-box-bottom&lang=en></script></div><footer><p><a href=https://www.facebook.com/quackit.tutorials> <i class="fa fa-facebook-official"> </i> Quackit on Facebook </a><p class=about><a href=/> <i class="fa fa-home"> </i> Home </a> | <a href=/about.cfm rel=nofollow> About </a> | <a href=/contact.cfm rel=nofollow> Contact </a> | <a href=/terms_of_use.cfm rel=nofollow> Terms of Use </a> | <a href=/privacy_policy.cfm rel=nofollow> Privacy Policy </a><p>© Copyright 2000 - 2021 Quackit.com  </footer><script src=/common/js/spectrum/spectrum.js></script><script charset=utf-8 src=/common/js/lightbox2-master/dist/js/lightbox.min.js></script><script>$(document).ready(function(){

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