📂 Databases is a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. In one view, databases can be classified according to types of content: bibliographic, full-text, numeric, and images. DEFINITION database Posted by: Margaret Rouse WhatIs.com Contributor(s): Allan Leake Sponsored News Using Automation to Solve Data Management Challenges –Veritas Avoid the Pain of Cloud Silos With Unified Management and Visibility –Splunk See More Vendor Resources Guide to Consolidating SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 Databases to SQL ... –Dell and Microsoft SQL Zero-Time Upgrades to Oracle Database 11g Using Oracle GoldenGate –Oracle Corporation A database is a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. In one view, databases can be classified according to types of content: bibliographic, full-text, numeric, and images. Download this free guide Download Our Exclusive Big Data Analytics Guide An unbiased look at real-life analytics success stories, including a Time Warner Cable case study, and tips on how to evaluate big data tools. This guide will benefit BI and analytics pros, data scientists, business execs and project managers. Start Download In computing, databases are sometimes classified according to their organizational approach. The most prevalent approach is the relational database, a tabular database in which data is defined so that it can be reorganized and accessed in a number of different ways. A distributed database is one that can be dispersed or replicated among different points in a network. An object-oriented programming database is one that is congruent with the data defined in object classes and subclasses. Computer databases typically contain aggregations of data records or files, such as sales transactions, product catalogs and inventories, and customer profiles. Typically, a database manager provides users the capabilities of controlling read/write access, specifying report generation, and analyzing usage. Databases and database managers are prevalent in large mainframe systems, but are also present in smaller distributed workstation and mid-range systems such as the AS/400 and on personal computers. SQL (Structured Query Language) is a standard language for making interactive queries from and updating a database such as IBM's DB2, Microsoft's SQL Server, and database products from Oracle, Sybase, and Computer Associates.