SQL Server 2000 Particulars and History
So you want to learn something about databases - SQL Server in particular? That’s great because databases are pervasive - they are everywhere, though you may not have really thought about this up until now. In this chapter, we’ll be looking at some of the different varieties and brands of databases available both today and throughout history. We’ll examine some of the advantages and disadvantages of each, and how they fit into the grand picture of life, so to speak. Moving on from there, we’ll take a look at SQL Server 2000 specifically - the different editions that are currently available and what each one does or doesn’t include.
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Databases are not just limited to the computer-based systems that we typically think about when we hear the term - they are much, much more. A database is really any collection of organized data. Even Webster’s dictionary puts a qualifier on any computer notion:
Database: A usually large collection of data organized especially for rapid search and retrieval (as by a computer).
The file drawers in your office are really something of a database (that is, if they are better organized than mine at home). In fact, databases have existed throughout most of the history of the “civilized” world, going back to the days of the early philosophers and academics (Socrates, Aristotle, Hippocrates, etc.). That being said, there’s a reason why databases are so closely associated with computers. It’s because, for most database situations (virtually, but not quite, all of them), computers are simply the fastest and most efficient way to store data. Indeed, the term database is thought to have originated from the computing community in 1962 or so.
Databases, then, fall into a number of common categories:
- Paper-based: These, although often not thought of as databases, probably still make up the largest proportion of databases in the world today. There are literally billions and billions of tons of paper out there that are still meticulously organized, but haven’t been anywhere near a computer.
- Legacy mainframe - often VSAM (Virtual Storage Access Method - common to IBM mainframes) databases: Don’t underestimate the number of legacy mainframes still out there, and their importance. Connectivity to host systems and the vast amounts of data they still contain is one of the major opportunity areas in database and systems development today. There are still many situations where I recommend a host system solution rather than a clientserver or web-based model. It’s worth noting though that I still believe in using a true RDBMS - albeit one that’s located on a host system.
- dBase and other file-based databases: Typically, these include any of the older Indexed Sequential Access Method - or ISAM - databases. These normally use a separate file for each table, but the ISAM name comes from the physical way the data is stored and accessed more than anything else. Examples of ISAM databases that are still in widespread legacy use - and even in some new developments in certain cases - include dBase, FoxPro, Excel, Paradox, and Access. (Yes, Access is an ISAM with a relational feel and several relational features - it is not, however, a true relational database system.) These systems had most of their heyday well before RDBMS systems. (There is something of a paradox in this since RDBMS systems appeared first.) These systems are still quite often great for small, stand-alone databases where you will never have more than a small number of users accessing the data at a time.
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Tags: database administrator, database management, History, SQL Server
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