Why is independent innovation in the database field so important?

Through the previous articles, we explained how to install the PostgreSQL database software and the pgAdmin4 graphical management tool.

In the next few articles, we will continue to learn how to graphically create and connect to a PostgreSQL database through the pgAdmin4 management tool.

In today's article, let us first understand what databases and database management systems are, and have a preliminary impression and understanding of databases and database management systems.

Science and Technology Daily previously announced that one of China's key technologies controlled by foreign countries, namely database technology, was listed as the 35th "stuck technology".

As the core software of various information systems in today's society, databases are known as "the crown jewel of basic software" because of their high technical threshold, long research and development cycle, and high engineering implementation requirements.

In the article "Database Management System: China is still looking for the "correct way to open it"", it is mentioned that the two most popular database management systems in the world are Oracle and MySQL, both of which are products of Oracle.

Competitors include products from IBM, SAP and Microsoft. American companies such as Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, Teradata, SAP, etc. occupy the majority of the database management system market.

Although China's domestic database management systems also exist, their market share is relatively small, and their stability and performance have not yet been fully recognized by the market. In industries with high requirements for extreme stability, reliability, and real-time performance, such as banking, insurance, securities, telecommunications, transportation, and electric power, foreign database products such as Oracle still dominate.

So why is the key technology of "database" always "stuck" by the West?

In fact, to be precise, what is "stuck" should be the database management system (DBMS).

Database is a structured collection used to store, manage and retrieve data.

This data is usually organized according to certain rules and patterns to allow efficient storage and retrieval of information.

Databases can contain various types of data such as text, numbers, images, audio and video, etc.

Databases are used to save and maintain data in various applications and systems so that they can be accessed and manipulated quickly and reliably when needed.

Database Management System (DBMS) is a software tool used to manage the creation, access, maintenance and operation of databases.

It allows users to define data structures, store data, query data and update data, while providing data integrity, security and consistency guarantees.

The DBMS acts as an intermediary between the database and the application, allowing the application to interact with the database without having to delve into the details of the underlying database.

Common database management systems include:

1. Relational Database Management System (RDBMS): This type of DBMS uses tables (tables) to organize data, where data is stored in rows and columns, and these tables allow relationships type operations, such as SQL query language. Common RDBMS include MySQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and PostgreSQL.

2. NoSQL database management system: These databases do not use the traditional relational model, but other data models such as document, key-value, column family or graph model. They are suitable for different types of data and application scenarios. Some well-known NoSQL databases include MongoDB, Cassandra, and Redis.

3. Distributed Database Management System (DDBMS): These systems are used in distributed environments to store and manage data across multiple computers to provide high availability and scalability sex. Hadoop, Couchbase, and Amazon DynamoDB are some examples.

4. In-Memory Database Management System (IMDBMS): These databases store data in memory to speed up data access and processing. Some in-memory databases include Redis, Memcached and SAP HANA.

Databases and database management systems play a key role in many fields, including enterprise data management, e-commerce, finance, healthcare, social media and many other applications.

Whether it is storing large-scale business data or personal information, the database is an indispensable technical foundation, which makes reliable storage and efficient access of data possible.

To facilitate understanding, let us use a vivid analogy to illustrate databases and database management systems.

Imagine a library is a database and the librarian is the database management system. This library houses a large number of books that represent different data. Now, let's explain this analogy:

1. Database (library): A library is like a database. It is an orderly and structured storage place used to store various books (data). Each book has its own location and number, similar to tables and records in a database.

2. Database Management System (Librarian): Librarians are database managers. They are responsible for the classification, indexing, storage, borrowing and returning of books. They ensure that the books in the library are always organized and accessible, much like a database management system ensures that the data in a database is organized, accessible, and secure.

3. Data (Books): Each book represents a data item in the database. These books can include various types such as novels, textbooks, encyclopedias, etc., just like databases can contain different types of data such as text, images, audio, etc.

4. Lookup (borrow and find books): When a patron needs to find a book, they interact with a librarian, providing the title or subject, and the librarian then assists them Find the book you need. This is like a query in a database, where a user can retrieve specific data using a query language such as SQL.

5. Data Integrity and Security: Librarians are responsible for ensuring that books are not lost, damaged, or stolen. Likewise, database management systems are also responsible for maintaining data integrity and security to prevent data corruption, unauthorized access, or loss.

This analogy can help you understand the basic concepts of databases and database management systems.

A database is a place where data is stored and organized, while a database management system plays a role similar to a librarian, making data easy to manage and access.

So it seems that the working principle of the database management system is not difficult to understand. What is the difficulty?

Speed ​​and reliability are difficult to balance

When looking up a bank account, we don't need to worry about which computer or hard drive the numbers come from. This heavy task is handled by the database management system (DBMS).

A DBMS can be compared to a librarian: responsible for finding books, storing them, providing access... This sounds easy, but when the size of the library is very large and the books are scattered on distant shelves, management becomes quite complicated.

Luo Xiguang, an IBM analytics architect with extensive experience in database development and implementation, gave an example - when a user modifies data, the relevant storage area will be locked, and other users must wait in line. If the data storage of the DBMS is not reasonable, this will cause serious time delays. In an ideal situation, data operations are like dozens of hands playing a piano at the same time, each playing their own role without interfering with each other.

"The methodology of database management systems, especially relational database management systems (RDBMS), is very clear in principle; its functions are similar to common library management systems. However, when the amount of data is huge, reaching TB and PB levels, the performance of DBMS Keeping it from declining has become a huge challenge," Luo Xiguang pointed out.

Taking an ordinary large-scale website as an example, it must handle thousands of query requests per second. The database needs to perform dozens of query tasks at the same time, and must maintain a very short response time.

"Network users send requests and expect to get results in an instant. If the DBMS performs poorly and the response time is delayed to 10 seconds or 20 seconds, users may lose patience, and the database may even fail frequently." Luo Xiguang explained that to achieve permanent Achieving high availability without failure requires a lot of expertise.

Databases have a very wide range of application scenarios in today's information society, covering almost all industries and fields.

In daily life, we come into contact with and use databases every day, but usually we are not aware of it. The following are the important applications of databases in different fields of today's society. Let's take a look at what software we use every day in our lives. When dealing with the database:

1. Enterprise Japanese Commerce：

   • Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Businesses use databases to store customer information in order to track sales, provide customer support, and customize marketing campaigns.
   • Supply Chain Management: Databases help companies track inventory, logistics and procurement to ensure efficient production and delivery.
   • Financial Management: The database is used to record and manage financial data, including income, expenses, financial statements, etc.
     

2. Production manufacturing :

   • Production Planning and Scheduling: Database management systems (DBMS) are used in the manufacturing field to create, maintain and optimize production plans to ensure optimal utilization of production resources.
   • Manufacturing Execution Management (MES): Real-time monitoring of the status of manufacturing equipment to ensure efficient and stable operation of the production line.
   • Quality Management: The database is used to record and analyze product quality data to assist quality management and problem solving.
   • Inventory Management: DBMS supports inventory tracking and management of raw materials, work-in-progress and finished products.

3. Medical Health：

   3.1 Electronic medical record management: The database is used to store and manage patients' electronic medical records. This includes the patient's medical history, medical records, laboratory results, imaging and prescription information. Doctors and nurses can access these electronic medical records to better understand a patient's condition and provide precise diagnosis and treatment recommendations.

   3.2 Medical Image Storage and Management: Database is used to store medical images such as X-rays, CT scans, MRI and ultrasound images. These images can be accessed at any time for diagnostic and treatment decisions. The medical image database also supports image backup, recovery and sharing.

   3.3 ​​Medication Management: Database used to track and manage medication inventory, prescription information, and drug interactions. It ensures patients get the right medication, avoids overdose or drug interactions, and provides alerts and reminders to ensure patients take their medications on time.

   3.4 Medical Equipment Monitoring: The database is used to monitor the status and performance of medical devices to ensure they are functioning properly. Hospitals can use databases to maintain equipment, predict equipment failures and plan repairs.

   3.5 Medical Research and Data Analysis: Database used to store large-scale medical research data, including clinical trial data, patient population data, and genomes data. These data can be used for disease research, epidemiological studies, and new drug development.

   3.6 Patient appointment and queuing system: The database supports the patient appointment system of hospitals and clinics, allowing patients to make online appointments for medical services and reduce waiting time and improve the efficiency of medical processes.

   3.7 Financial Management and Billing: Database used to manage a healthcare organization’s financial information, including patient billing, insurance claims, costing and Budget. This helps healthcare organizations manage financial processes efficiently.

   3.8 Patient Tracking and Management: The database supports the patient management system for tracking patient treatment plans, appointments, and health status. Healthcare providers can use databases to provide more personalized care.

   3.9 Disease surveillance and prevention and control: The database is used in epidemiological studies to monitor outbreaks, track disease spread and assist in the development of prevention and control measures. control strategy. This is crucial in responding to infectious disease outbreaks, such as the "health code" system during the COVID-19 epidemic.
   

   3.10 Online medical service platform: The database supports online medical service platforms, such as remote diagnosis, electronic prescription and online patient consultation. This digital platform provides a more convenient way to provide medical services.

4. Education management:

   • Student Information Management: Schools and universities use databases to manage student information, grades, and course plans.
   • Online Learning Platform: Online education platforms use databases to store course content, learning progress, and student interaction data.

5. Electronic business：

   • Product catalog and inventory management: E-commerce websites use databases to store product information, prices, and availability.
   • User Profile and Shopping Cart: The database tracks a user's shopping cart contents and order history.

6. Social media :

   • User Profiles and Social Interactions: Social media platforms use databases to store user profile information, posts, comments and interaction history.
   • Recommendation system: The database supports content recommendation algorithms based on user interests.

7. Financial certificate：

   7.1 Customer Account Management:
   - Banks and financial institutions use databases to manage customer information, accounts and transaction history. This helps quickly query customer data, process transactions, verify identities and provide personalized financial services. The database also supports customer relationship management (CRM) systems to improve customer experience and provide better service.

   7.2 Account Transactions and Settlement:
   - Databases play a key role in financial transactions and settlements. They are used to store various trade types, including stock, forex, futures, and bond trades. The database supports real-time transaction monitoring, settlement and clearing processes, ensuring transaction accuracy and transparency.

   7.3 Risk Management:
   - Banks and financial institutions use databases to identify, quantify and manage risks . This includes credit risk, market risk and operational risk. The database stores a large amount of market data and is used for risk model development and risk monitoring.

   7.4 Forex Trading and Currency Management:
   - The foreign exchange market is highly dynamic and complex, database Used to store currency exchange rate data, foreign exchange trading orders and historical market conditions. Financial institutions rely on databases to execute foreign exchange transactions, conduct exchange rate analysis and manage foreign exchange risk.
   

   7.5 Securities Trading and Portfolio Management:
   - Securities trading database used to store stocks, bonds , derivatives and other financial instruments. Investment management firms use databases to track portfolio performance, execute trades and perform risk analysis.

   7.6 Market Data Analysis:
   - Database used to store large amounts of market data, including historical markets Prices, volumes and market indices. Financial analysts and traders use this data to develop trading strategies, conduct technical analysis, and predict market trends.

   7.7 Compliance and Regulatory Reporting:
   - Financial institutions must comply with strict regulatory requirements and Submit regular compliance reports. The database is used to store transaction data, customer information and other critical information in order to generate compliance reports and conduct regulatory audits.

   7.8 Online and Mobile Banking:
   - Database supports online banking and mobile applications, allowing customers Access their accounts, view transaction history, make transfers and pay bills. These applications rely on databases to provide secure, real-time services.
   

   7.9 Financial Research and Modeling:
   - Financial researchers use databases to store and analyze financial data , to develop financial models, conduct risk assessments and market forecasts. The database supports complex data mining and quantitative analysis.

   7.10 Customer Support and Complaint Management:
   - Databases used by banks and financial institutions to track customer complaints , resolve issues and provide support. This helps improve customer satisfaction and respond quickly to customer needs.

8. Government Administration:

   8.1 Public Safety and Law Enforcement:
   - Database used to store criminal data, case records, suspects Information and law enforcement activities. Law enforcement uses databases to investigate crimes, track criminals, and maintain public safety.

   8.2 Authentication and Identity Management:
   - Government agencies use databases to manage citizen identity information, Passport data, visa information and identity verification. This helps secure the nation's borders, prevent identity theft and support legal immigration.

   8.3 Voter Registration and Election Management:
   - Database for voter registration, voter list management and Election voting. This supports government agencies in the management of elections, referendums and political participation.

   8.4 Administrative archives management:
   - Government departments use databases to manage administrative archives, policy documents, Government decisions and government documents. This helps governments formulate policy, fulfill regulatory responsibilities and provide public information.

   8.5 Finance and Tax Management:
   - Database supports financial records, tax data, Taxpayer information and budget management. This helps governments manage financial resources and ensure tax collection.
   

   8.6 Land Management and Urban Planning:
   - Land database for urban planning, real estate management, Land use planning and land ownership records. Governments use databases to manage land resources and urban development.

   8.7 Government Health and Medical Administration:
   - Database for health sector patient records, epidemics Surveillance, health data and health resource management. This supports governments in delivering health services and responding to public health challenges.

   8.8 Government Education and Student Management:
   - Database supports student records, academic data in the education sector , educational planning and school resource management. Governments use databases to manage education systems and support students.

   8.9 Government Social Welfare Administration:
   - database for welfare records of social welfare departments, social Service data and benefits support. Government agencies use databases to provide social services and assistance.

   8.10 Government Crisis Response and Emergency Management:
   - Database supporting government agency crisis response, Emergency management and natural disaster response. This helps governments respond to emergencies and keep the public safe.

9. Traffic Management:
   Databases are widely used in the transportation field, including civil aviation, high-speed rail, ships, vehicles and other fields. The following are some important applications of databases in the transportation field:

   9.1 Civil Aviation (Air Traffic Management):

   • Flight information management: The database is used to store and manage information about each flight, including flight plans, departure and arrival times, airport information, and passenger and cargo information.

   • Flight Monitoring: The database supports air traffic control systems for real-time tracking of aircraft locations and flight data to ensure aircraft safety and on-time arrival.
     

   • Airport Operations: Airport managers use databases to coordinate and optimize airport resources, including terminals, runways, parking bays, and more.

   9.2 High-speed rail (rail traffic management):

   • Train dispatching command and operation plan: The database is used to manage the operation plan, passenger information and train timetable of high-speed rail trains.
   • Railway Signaling System: The database supports the railway signaling control system to ensure the safe operation of trains on the track.
   • Ticketing and Seat Reservation: High-speed rail companies use databases to handle ticketing, seat reservations and passenger information in order to manage ticket sales and seat allocation.
     

   9.3 Ship (maritime traffic management):

   • Ship position tracking: The database is used to monitor the position, speed and heading of ships in real time to provide ship positioning and traffic control.
   • Port Operations Management: The database supports port operations, including vessels entering and exiting the port, cargo loading and unloading, and port equipment maintenance.
   • Navigation safety and navigation: The database stores water geographical information, navigation rules and dangerous goods information for ship navigation and navigation safety.

   9.4 Vehicles (Road Traffic Management):

   • Traffic Monitoring and Management: Database used to store traffic cameras, vehicle identification information, and real-time traffic flow data to help traffic authorities monitor roads and take traffic control measures.
   • Intelligent Transportation System: The database supports intelligent transportation systems, including traffic signal optimization, vehicle counting, parking management, etc.
   • Automotive maintenance and care: Automakers and repair centers use databases to record vehicle maintenance history, parts inventory, and repair schedules.

10. Judiciary Tribunal:

• Evidence Management: In judicial investigations, databases are used to manage case and evidence data and assist police, lawyers and courts in organizing and retrieving relevant documents and evidence.
• Investigation Progress Tracking: DBMS helps monitor investigation progress and record key events and timelines.

11. Military National Defense and Security:

    11.1 Information collection analysis：

    • Databases are used to store a variety of intelligence information, including intelligence analyses, images, and documents. Intelligence databases enable intelligence analysts to track threats, analyze intelligence data, and make decisions. These databases also include various intelligence types such as geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT).

    11.2 Support for military operations：

    • Military databases are used to store data related to combat plans, troop deployments, weapon systems, and military operations. This helps commanders and warfighters understand real-time battlefield conditions, coordinate military operations and plan strategies.

    11.3 Safety information sharing：

    • The database supports security and intelligence sharing, allowing intelligence data to be shared between different agencies, departments and coalitions. This helps coordinate domestic and international security cooperation to jointly respond to threats and challenges.

    11.4 Army post office management：

    • Databases are used for military logistics management, including material inventory, transportation, maintenance and personnel management. This helps ensure that the military has adequate resources and equipment to support military operations.

    11.5 卫星和导 Navigation System：

    • The satellite database supports the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and navigation satellite systems. These databases store satellite trajectory data, signal information and positioning services.

    11.6 Military Training and Simulation:

    • The database is used to store military training courses, simulation training data and exercise results. This helps improve soldiers' combat effectiveness and readiness.

    11.7 Homeland Security：

    • The database supports homeland security monitoring, including border security, counterterrorism and critical infrastructure protection. This helps the country stay secure and respond to threats.

    11.8 Military affairs and medical management：

    • Databases are used to manage military medical records, medical equipment inventories, and casualty information. This supports military medical care and casualty logistics support.

    11.9 Network and Information Security:
    - Database used to monitor network activity, cyber threats and information security incident. This helps protect military communications and information systems from attacks.

    11.10 Strategic Planning and Policy Development:
    - Database supports national security strategic planning and policy development. Government agencies can use databases to store national security policy documents, historical data, and decision support information.

12. Scientific research:

• Experimental Data: Scientists use databases to store experimental data, observations, and research findings.
• Astronomy: The database allows astronomers to record and share stellar observations.

13. Social security：

    13.1 Management of social insurance participants:

    • The database is used to record and manage the information of all insured persons, including personal identification information, family members, employment history, social insurance type and insurance status. This helps social insurance agencies track each person's coverage and entitlements.

    13.2 Social security money release：

    • The database is used to process and manage the payment of social insurance benefits. This includes various social security benefits such as pensions, health insurance, unemployment benefits and workers' compensation. The database supports the accounting, issuance, historical records and tax reporting process of gold payments.

    13.3 Medical expense management:

    • The database is used to store medical expense information of insured persons, including medical reimbursement, drug expenses and medical service expenses. This helps social insurance agencies calculate medical expenses, control expenditures and track the quality of medical services.

    13.4 Social security policy management:

    • The database supports the management of social insurance policies, including policy formulation, adjustment and implementation. Governments and social insurance agencies can use databases to store policy documents, policy history, and policy change information.

    13.5 Social security number analysis：

    • The database is used to store large amounts of social insurance data, which can be used for statistical analysis, trend analysis and decision support. Social insurance agencies and governments can use databases to monitor the performance and sustainability of social insurance programs.

    13.6 Social security deception 检测：

    • Database supports social security fraud detection. It can store fraud detection rules, suspicious case data and fraud investigation history to help social security agencies identify and prevent fraud.

    13.7 养OLD金和运规划：

    • Databases are used to manage pension plans and retirement plans. This includes investments of pension funds, plan participant information and pension payments.

    13.8 Social security information gate：

    • The database supports the Social Security Information Portal, which allows enrollees and employers to access their Social Security information, submit applications, check benefit eligibility and communicate. This provides a convenient way to self-service.

    13.9 Workplace Injury and Accident Management:
    - Database for recording and managing work injury and accident reports, Includes accident details, injured employee information and workers' compensation claims processing. This helps social insurance agencies track workplace injuries and provide compensation.

    13.10 Social Security Audit and Compliance:
    - Database supports Social Security Audit for Check social security benefits for compliance and accuracy. It stores audit data, audit results, and compliance reports.

These application scenarios highlight the criticality of databases in the field of social insurance, helping social insurance institutions to provide better services, manage insured person information and ensure the accurate distribution of social insurance funds. Databases play a key role in the field of social insurance, promoting the sustainability and fairness of the social security system.

These application scenarios highlight the diversity and breadth of databases. Databases play a key role in the information society, making data storage, retrieval, and analysis more efficient and reliable.

The functionality and scalability of databases enable them to meet specific needs in a variety of fields, helping organizations manage and utilize data more efficiently.

Not only do they provide organization and management of data, they also support decision-making, research, and innovation.

Precisely because the safe and stable operation of the database has a significant impact on the efficient operation of all levels of social systems and national security, once the database is attacked and invaded by hackers, the possible impacts and consequences will also be catastrophic:

1. Data leakage: Database intrusion may lead to the leakage of sensitive data, including personal privacy information, business secrets, government agency data, etc. This may compromise personal privacy, expose business secrets, and threaten national security.

2. Financial losses: Database attacks can result in financial losses, including financial fraud, financial losses, and credit card fraud. This causes direct harm to individuals and business economies.

3. Social Chaos: Large-scale database attacks can lead to social chaos. For example, attacks on the databases of key infrastructure such as power grids, water supply, natural gas, oil and other energy systems, civil aviation, high-speed rail, automobiles, ship transportation systems, and mobile communication networks of telecom, mobile, China Unicom, radio and television operators will paralyze social operations.

4. National Security Threat: Database attacks pose a threat to national security. Military secrets, international relations data, homeland security information, etc. may be leaked, which will have a negative impact on national security and international relations.

5. Reputation Damage: Businesses and government agencies can suffer reputational damage after database attacks. Public concerns about data breaches and security issues can lead to a loss of trust.

6. Critical service interruption: Database attacks may cause the interruption of critical services, including medical services, education, telecommunications, etc. This can endanger individual lives and the normal functioning of society.

7. Reduced international competitiveness: International investment and cooperation require data security. Database attacks may reduce China's international competitiveness and affect international cooperation and business opportunities.

Because of this, databases have a serious impact on social operations, national security, and international competitiveness. The reason why countries around the world regard database technology as a key basic information technology is because it is crucial to national information security and social stability and efficient operation.

Therefore, database technology is regarded as one of our country's strategic key technologies, equivalent to the status of chip and semiconductor technology in technological competition. It has attracted national attention and investment.

With the development of domestic technology and independent innovation, the awareness of data security and privacy protection continues to increase, and the development of cloud computing and big data has promoted various industries in China, including finance, medical care, manufacturing, retail, etc., to actively undergo digital transformation. This has led to increased demand for database technology to support the management and analysis of large-scale data. The development of databases in China shows a positive trend, and many domestic enterprises and research institutions have begun to actively participate in the research and development of database systems.

Fortunately, some local database software products have emerged in our country to meet the needs of different domestic industries and application fields:

1. PingCAP TiDB: distributed relational database
2. Ant Group Oceanbase: native distributed relational database
3. Dameng Database DM8: General Relational Database
4. Huawei openGauss: open source relational database
5. Huawei GaussDB: AI-Native distributed database
6. Alibaba Cloud PolarDB: relational distributed cloud-native database
7. Renmin University of Finance and Economics KingBaseES: relational database
8. NTU General GBase: database series products
9. Tencent Cloud TDSQL: distributed database
10. Alibaba Cloud AnalyticDB: analytical database
    

As long as we continue to invest in capital, technology and talent training, there is hope that our domestic database will overcome the stuck problem and achieve breakthroughs. This kind of comprehensive support and efforts can promote the continuous progress of China's database technology, improve the competitiveness of domestic database products, and further meet the needs of widespread domestic and foreign applications. This is also expected to promote China's database industry to emerge on the international stage and become an important player in the global database field.