Types and Uses of Database

There are two types of database:

• Single-user database

Single-user database support only only one user at a time and basically runs on a personal computer.

• Multi-user database

Multi-user databases have the capability to support many users concurrently. It can be further classified into workgroup and enterprise database. Workgroup database supports a small group of users, usually for a small department. Example of workgroup database is Microsoft Office Access and Open Office Base. Conversely, enterprise type of databases has higher capability of supporting a large group of users like an entire organization, for example, Oracle, DB2 and SQL/Server.

There are many uses of database. It supports a company's day to day operations like transaction or production. Database is like a data warehouse, the stored data is use to generate information required to make tactical or strategic decisions and such decisions typically require "data massaging". Database is also often used to store historical data