Beginning SQL Server2005 Programming
Chapter One
RDBMS Basics: What Makes
Up a SQL Server Database?
What makes up a database? Data for sure. (What use is a database that doesn't store anything?)
But a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is actually much more than data. Today's
advanced RDBMSs not only store your data; they also manage that data for you, restricting what
kind of data can go into the system, and also facilitating getting data out of the system. If all you
want is to tuck the data away somewhere safe, you could use just about any data storage system.
RDBMSs allow you to go beyond the storage of the data into the realm of defining what that data
should look like, or the business rules of the data.
Don't confuse what I'm calling the "business rules of data" with the more generalized business
rules that drive your entire system (for example, someone can't see anything until they've logged
on, or automatically adjusting the current period in an accounting system on the first of the
month). Those types of rules can be enforced ... read full excerpt from Beginning SQL Server 2005 Programming ebook
