How Data Is Stored: Down the Rabbit Hole
Starting with databases and venturing into how the physical components of a computer store data and the differences between how those components work. Knowing how a particular database stores data is important for understanding the performance of that database and weighing tradeoffs between databases.
Have you ever started learning about a topic and then your suddenly 3 hours and 500 tabs in? That’s what this is, but make it a blog post. I’m going to start with a topic I am interested in — databases. This topic is, uh, pretty huge. Therefore, the focus will be on a subset of databases, how data is stored. Here is a brief outline of the path down the rabbit hole! Welcome!
*Note on style: This is typically how I learn — I start with a broad topic and dig deep into various concepts. This may not be the best format for everyone, but that’s okay!
How is data stored and used in databases?
The control over storing the data is done by a DBMS (database management system). The DMBS is software that does all the coordination for a database. It controls the way the data is stored, queried, secured, created, etc. Some…
