| The Database Management System (DBMS) represents the framework from which you design, store, and manage all the databases that you create. Figure 26.1 shows the SQL Server Enterprise Manager. The Enterprise Manager is a centralized location for managing and interacting with all your databases. Figure 26.1. SQL Server Enterprise Manager is the typical Database Management System (DBMS).
Although smaller databases such as Access do not have what is traditionally known as a DBMS, Access does provide you with a way of interacting with and managing a single database file. Figure 26.2 shows how you can open a database through Access. Figure 26.2. Access does not provide a typical DBMS, but it does allow for access to any single database file.
If you look at the Web store example again, you can begin to imagine how the DBMS looks much like the filing cabinet discussed earlier. Unlike a filing cabinet, however, which typically contains two to four drawers, a DBMS can manage hundreds, possibly thousands of databases all of which are immediately at your fingertips. NOTE Many databases other than SQL Server and Access are available. So many, in fact, that we cannot begin to cover them in the scope of this book. For the sake of simplicity, Access and SQL Server are discussed here whenever possible.
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