Since before the dawn of the computer age,people have been using databases. Before
computers, a database may have been a Rolodex containing phone numbers of the important
people you knew, or it was a filing cabinet thatcontained all the personnel records for the
company. Today, databases are computer-based and are found virtually everywhere. From
desktop databases of your record collection to Web-enabled databases that run large corporations,
- 6 -databases come in all shapes and sizes. Because ofthis fact, the database industry has grown as
fast and as large as the rest of the computer industry.
Until recently, most high-powered databases costan arm and a leg. They could provide all the
tools and functionality to run a business but at a very high price. So most companies would use a
database that was cheaper and sacrifice functionality