Re: What is a "database"?

A database in the PC world can be either one file or a group
of files.  A single file as in, "I am going to create a vendor database",
although is usually referred to as a database file.  A group of files
as in "Have you backed up our database lately?".

A database administrator in the PC world is one who maintaines the
database files.  Such as on a SQL server.  They do the SQL
administration.  They don't necessarily have to design and create
database files, but most do.  They would add users to SQL, give
the users right, create the allocation for the users databases, do
backups of the SQL server, etc...

Most database administrators also design and create database
tables (database file), views (a logical file) and inbeded procedures.

On the AS/400, the manager of the AS/400 is the database
administrator, as the DB2 files are database files.  The database
files on the AS/400 are backed up with the rest of the system.
The Security Officer gives the users the rights to files.  The
Application Programmers design files.

All the functions of PC database administration is done on an
AS/400, sometimes all by one person for a small shop, or broken
up to various people in larger shops.

A database administrator just maintains the database files'
integrity.

Regards,

Jim Langston

boothm@earth.goddard.edu wrote:

> It is becoming clear to me that I don't know what a database is.  I'd
> thought it was the base of data that an organization accumulates, but now
> I hear people speak of being a database administrator and there seems to
> be clumps of these people around non-AS/400 machines.  What is it they do?

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