Explain the advantages and disadvantages of DBMS?

The Database Management System (DBMS) is defined as a software system that allows the user to define, create and maintain the database and provide control access to the data.

It is a collection of programs used for managing data and simultaneously it supports different types of users to create, manage, retrieve, update and store information.

Advantages of DBMS

The advantages of the DBMS are explained below −

Redundancy problem can be solved.

In the File System, duplicate data is created in many places because all the programs have their own files which create data redundancy resulting in wastage of memory. In DBMS, all the files are integrated in a single database. So there is no chance of duplicate data.

For example: A student record in a library or examination can contain duplicate values, but when they are converted into a single database, all the duplicate values are removed.

Has a very high security level.

Data security level is high by protecting your precious data from unauthorized access. Only authorized users should have the grant to access the database with the help of credentials.

Presence of Data integrity.

Data integrity makes unification of so many files into a single file. DBMS allows data integrity which makes it easy to decrease data duplicity Data integration and reduces redundancy as well as data inconsistency.

Support multiple users.

DBMS allows multiple users to access the same database at a time without any conflicts.

Avoidance of inconsistency.

DBMS controls data redundancy and also controls data consistency. Data consistency is nothing but if you want to update data in any files then all the files should not be updated again.

In DBMS, data is stored in a single database so data becomes more consistent in comparison to file processing systems.

Shared data

Data can be shared between authorized users of the database in DBMS. All the users have their own right to access the database. Admin has complete access to the database. He has a right to assign users to access the database.

Enforcement of standards

As DBMS have central control of the database. So, a DBA can ensure that all the applications follow some standards such as format of data, document standards etc. These standards help in data migrations or in interchanging the data.

Any unauthorized access is restricted

Unauthorized persons are not allowed to access the database because of security credentials.

Provide backup of data

Data loss is a big problem for all the organizations. In the file system users have to back up the files in regular intervals which lead to waste of time and resources.

DBMS solves this problem of taking backup automatically and recovery of the database.

Tunability

Tuning means adjusting something to get a better performance. Same in the case of DBMS, as it provides tunability to improve performance. DBA adjusts databases to get effective results.

Disadvantages of DBMS

The disadvantages of DBMS are as follows:

Complexity

The provision of the functionality that is expected of a good DBMS makes the DBMS an extremely complex piece of software. Database designers, developers, database administrators and end-users must understand this functionality to take full advantage of it.

Failure to understand the system can lead to bad design decisions, which leads to a serious consequence for an organization.

Size

The functionality of DBMS makes use of a large piece of software which occupies megabytes of disk space.

Performance

Performance may not run as fast as desired.

Higher impact of a failure

The centralization of resources increases the vulnerability of the system because all users and applications rely on the availability of DBMS, the failure of any component can bring operation to halt.