The master file was a good idea and worked well. The only problem was that a master file
existed on a tape file. And tape files were clumsy to use. Soon, the idea of a master file
evolved into the idea of a database. Thus, born was the database concept, as seen in Fig.
8.1.20.
Fig. 8.1.20 Disk storage being written by an application.The early notion of a database was as a “place where all data resided for a subject area.”
In a day and age where lots of data were still lying in files and master files, the idea of a
database was an appealing approach. And given that data could be accessed on disk
storage in a database, the idea of a database was especially appealing.
Soon, however, the database concept morphed into the online database concept. In the
online database concept, not only could data be accessed directly but also could be
accessed in a real-time, online mode. In the online, real-time mode, data could be added,
deleted, and changed as business needs changed.
Fig. 8.1.21 depicts the online, real-time environment.
Chapter 8.1: A Brief History of Data Architecture