Ans:
What is Database System?
A Database System is a complex and sophisticated system designed to store, manage, and retrieve structured data efficiently. It provides a systematic and organized method of storing data in tables that consist of rows and columns. These systems allow for the definition of data types, relationships among different data items, constraints, and access permissions.
Database Systems support complex querying, data manipulation, and transaction management to ensure data integrity, consistency, and security. They are designed to handle large volumes of data and support concurrent access by multiple users or applications. Examples of Database Management Systems (DBMS) include MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL Server.
Use Cases:
- Web applications requiring persistent data storage (e-commerce platforms, online forums).
- Enterprise systems (Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS)).
- Any application that requires structured data storage with complex relationships and fast retrieval.
What is File System?
A File System is a simpler method of storing and organizing data files in a storage device, such as a hard drive or SSD, in a hierarchical structure. It organizes data into files and directories (also known as folders), allowing users and applications to easily save, find, and manage data. File Systems do not inherently support complex querying or relationships between files. They provide basic operations such as create, read, update, and delete files or directories.
Use Cases:
- General-purpose data storage and organization (document storage, multimedia files).
- Applications with simple data management requirements that do not need complex queries or transaction management.
- Operating system-level storage, providing a foundation for user data management and application data storage.
Database System VS File System
| Sl no. | Database management system | File management system |
| 1. | A DBMS is a collection of data. It does not require users to write procedures. | A file system is a collection of data. In this, users need to write procedures. |
| 2. | It is system software that creates and manages databases. | It is software that manages data files in a computer system. |
| 3. | In DBMS, data is present in an abstract view. So only required data for a user can be seen and other data are hidden. | It provides details of data representation and storage of data. |
| 4. | The DBMS provides a crash recovery mechanism i.e. it protects the user from system failure. | It does not have a crash recovery mechanism. That is, if the system crashes while storing some data, the data of the file will be lost. |
| 5. | In DBMS, SQL query is used which makes the process of update, select, and searching for data easier. | In this, the file system process of store, search, retrieve, etc. are done manually so it is difficult to manage the data in it. |
| 6. | This provides high data consistency. It uses normalization for this. | Have data inconsistency in this. |
| 7. | Data is more secure. | Data is less secure. |
| 8. | The duplication of data is very less in DBMS.so it has very little data redundancy. | Very high data redundancy. |
| 9. | Difficult process of recovery and backup in this | Recovery and backup process is Easy. |
| 10. | Multiple users can access it at the same time. | Suitable for a single user. |
| 11. | Examples: – MySQL, MSSQL, Oracle, DB2 etc. | Example: – NTFS, Ext etc. |