Opening the book…
7.2.1. File-based System
The way in which computers manage data has come a long way over the last few decades. Today’s users take for granted the many benefits found in a database system. However, it wasn’t that long ago that computers relied on a much less elegant and costly approach to data management called the file-based system.
One way to keep information on a computer is to store it in permanent files. A company system has a number of application programs; each of them is designed to manipulate data files. These application programs have been written at the request of the users in the organization. New applications are added to the system as the need arises.
The system just described is called the file-based system.
Consider a traditional banking system that uses the file-based system to manage the organization’s data. As we can imagine, there are different departments in the bank. And each has its own applications that manage and manipulate different data files. For banking systems, the programs may be used to debit or credit an account, find the balance of an account, add a new mortgage loan, and generate monthly statements.
And for a new employee, just hired by the bank, there will be a different file on him/her in different departments across the bank. If one of those files gets updated, the other files will remain without those updates.
| Account, Loan and Personnel Departments in a bank . By Luis R Castellanos, Public domain, own work. |
7.2.2. File-based System: Disadvantages
Using the file-based system to keep organizational information has a number of disadvantages. Listed below are four examples.
- Data redundancy
- Data integrity
- Data security
- Data concurrency access
1. Data redundancy
Often, within an organization, files and applications are created by different users. This can lead to data redundancy, a situation that occurs in a database when the same data exists in multiple tables.
This practice can lead to inconsistencies in data formats (i.e., 09/25/2026 vs. 09/25/26), wasted storage space and duplicative effort.
2. Data integrity
In file-based systems, data integrity is a challenge because tracking changes by multiple users requires the development of complex processes and procedures that exist outside of the system. As more users are added to a file-based system, these complex processes and procedures break down and ultimately fail.
3. Data security
Because access privileges differ from application to application and system to system, securing data between file-based systems is many cases is a manual process that must be performed by an application and/or systems administrator.
4. Data concurrency access
Data concurrency is the ability of the database to allow multiple users access to the same record without adversely affecting transaction processing. A file-based system typically prohibits data concurrency by only allow one user at a time to access a particular file or record.
In a file-based system, when an application or user opens a file, that file is locked until the application or user exits the file. Unlike file-based systems, database systems allow data concurrency access allowing multiple users access to the same record. This is an important difference between database and file-based systems.
7.2.3. Database Approach
The difficulties that arise from using the file-based system have prompted the development of a new approach in managing large amounts of organizational information called the database approach. Databases and database technology play an important role in most areas where computers are used, including business, education and medicine.
Role of databases in business
Everybody uses a database in some way, even if it is just to store information about their friends and family. That data might be written down or stored in a computer by using a word-processing program or it could be saved in a spreadsheet. However, the best way to store data is by using database management software.
This is a powerful software tool that allows you to store, manipulate and retrieve data in a variety of different ways. Most companies keep track of customer information by storing it in a database. This data may include customers, employees, products, orders or anything else that assists the business with its operations.
The meaning of data
Data are factual information such as measurements or statistics about objects and concepts. We use data for discussions or as part of a calculation. Data can be a person, a place, an event, an action or any one of a number of things. A single fact is an element of data, or a data element. If data are information and information is what we are in the business of working with, you can start to see where you might be storing it.
Data can be stored in:
- Filing cabinets
- Spreadsheets
- Folders
- Ledgers
- Lists
- Piles of papers on your desk
All of these items store information, and so too does a database. Because of the mechanical nature of databases, they have terrific power to manage and process the information they hold. This can make the information they house much more useful for your work.
With this understanding of data, we can start to see how a tool with the capacity to store a collection of data and organize it, conduct a rapid search, retrieve and process, might make a difference to how we can use data.
This section and those that follow are all about managing information.
| Database approach. Image by Jakub Zerdzicki from Pexels |
PGCC. INT1010: Concepts in Computing. Libretexts. 2021. Link.
| Banner image by Smithsonian from Unsplash |
This page titled 7.2: Before Database Systems was last modified on Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:22:18 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Luis Castellanos Hurtado.
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