DBMS Vs RDBMS: How RDBMS Is An Advanced Version Of DBMS?

7 mins read

We're always looking for ways to store information - be it in physical files or digital clouds. However, it's not just about storing information but also being able to access the information, add fresh data, and change the information. All these functions are important in a database as well. In a database, DBMS does all this and more. 

Database Management System (DBMS) is a software application, used to store large amounts of information in a database. A DBMS provides a platform to manage and maintain the data efficiently. A typical example of such a system is Microsoft Access. In this article, we will discuss the difference between DBMS and RDBMS i.e. Database Management Systems and Relational Database Management Systems. 

In short, they're similar but not identical. There's a lot of overlap between them - most people would say that any modern relational database can be considered a "database management system". But let's see in detail what is the difference between them and why RDBMS is called an advanced version of DBMS.

What is a Database?

To understand a Database, it is very important to know about Data first. Data is something that we use in our day-to-day life without even noticing it. All the phone numbers saved in your mobile phone are a form of data or being particular it is a form of structured data. These data are stored in a structured manner; all the names, phone numbers, or email ids associated with each other are stored in such a way that they can be easily accessed and edited. The organized collection of these data is nothing but a database.

Thus, a database is an organized collection of structured information or data typically stored in an electronic device. 

Some key features of the database are:

1. A database contains records that contain columns.
2. Each record has one primary key field. This key uniquely identifies every row within the table consisting of different values.
3. Every column stores a specific type of value like text, number, etc.
4. There may be multiple tables linked together using foreign keys.
5. Tables have relationships among them through foreign keys.
6. The database is typically managed by Database Management System to retrieve, insert, update, or delete data.

What is Database Management System (DBMS)?

The database needs a system to be managed efficiently. Let's first understand what is the need for DBMS before understanding what is DBMS.

What is the need for DBMS?

Let's say you want to add more contact numbers to your mobile phone or merge two already available contacts or you may want to delete the contact numbers present in your mobile phone. Since this is really small data, we might even think to do this manually. But if we take a really large database, having records in millions, it'd be stupid of us to even think about doing these operations manually. This is where DBMS comes into play.

DBMS lets us perform various operations using different queries in a user-friendly manner. 

DBMS serves as an interface between the database and its end-users or programs, allowing users to retrieve, update, and manage how the information is organized and optimized. A DBMS also facilitates oversight and control of databases, enabling a variety of administrative operations such as performance monitoring, tuning, and backup and recovery.

DBMS was first introduced in the 1960s. Today, most of the giant companies have their own Database Management Systems or database tools to manage their database which is also available in the market. A popular example of DBMS is the Oracle database version 19c used by Oracle. 

What is Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)?

The data in Database Management System is stored in a hierarchical form or navigational form. This makes it tough to manipulate or even perform basic operations on it. So users tend to use Relational Database Management System over Database Management System because it stores data in the form of Tables or Relational Schema. RDBMS makes it easy to access or retrieve or view data in tabular form. RDBMS is the advanced version of DBMS.

RDBMS or Relational Database Management System is a form of database management system software that manages and maintains data in the table format. All the related data in the database in RDMS is stored in tables with specific column names. RDBMS provides a set of tools to manipulate relations in SQL language. So basically, RDBMS allows you to query and modify data from a single source instead of accessing several sources separately. RDBMS even supports complex queries and retrieves data in a single go. A common example of RDBMS is DB2 used by IBM, or MySQL developed by Oracle. 

RDBMS supports ACID property while performing different operations. The ACID property provides a mechanism to ensure the correctness and consistency of a database. Although the ACID property is supported by both RDBMS and DBMS, RDBMS is still more durable due to its Relational Schema storing feature.

The ACID property stands for Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability. ACID property basically measures tons of features in a database like security measures or consistency, redundancy.

DBMS vs RDBMS: Key Differences

Now that we've understood RDBMS and DBMS, let's take a look at the key differences between the two: 

The above table states the basic difference between RDBMS and DBMS. Now let's see some of the common FAQs asked.

Common Questions Asked on DBMS and RDBMS

1. What's the key difference between DBMS, RDBMS, and SQL?

In RDBMS and DBMS major difference is in the database structure. RDBMS stores data in tabular structure whereas the latter stores in a file format. Additionally, while DBMS follows a hierarchical model for data organization, RDBMS uses a relational model.

2. Which is better DBMS or RDBMS?

It is very much clear after reading the above key differences between both that RDBMS is way better than DBMS because of integrity constraints at the schema level and differences in formats of their data storage.

3. What are the types of DBMS?

• Hierarchical database
• Network database
• Relational database
• Object-Oriented database

Summing up

RDBMS is an advanced version of DBMS which supports various features like data integrity, ensuring that there is no data inconsistency or data redundancy. Due to normalization supported by RDBMS, it is way more easily managed and updated. Since there is no data duplicity in RDBMS, the data access speed is higher than in DBMS.

You might also be interested in the following: 

• Data Independence In DBMS - Understand With Examples
• Data Models In DBMS: Types, Uses And More!
• Test Plan vs Test Strategy: What Makes The Two Different?
• Top 101 Java Interview Questions And Answers That IT Companies Ask!