A computer database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system. A database relies upon software to organize the storage of data. In other words, the software models the database structure in what are known as database models (or data models). The model in most common use today is the relational model. Other models such as the hierarchical model and the network model use a more explicit representation of relationships

Database management systems (DBMS) are usually categorized according to the database model that they support. The data model tends to determine the query languages that are available to access the database. A great deal of the internal engineering of a DBMS, however, is independent of the data model, and is concerned with managing factors such as performance, concurrency, integrity and recovery from hardware failures. In these areas there are large differences between products (which vary from Microsoft Access to File Maker).

Very often, an individual's name will be encoded, and then followed by the information. The name and the information are normally separated by a space, comma, or a hyphen. The items are commonly arranged by rows. Each row is referred to as a record.

Another form of database is the spreadsheet similar to the format used in Microsoft Excel, for example. They organize data through a variety of means, either by arranging records by surname, first name or by alphabetic order, reverse-alphabetical, time of modification and so on. Because the items are not only arranged horizontally but also vertically, the records is easier to comprehend.

Data manipulation is yet another advantage of using a database. Extensive data manipulation facilities for creating, copying, moving, converting reformatting and validating application test data are essential for the efficient development of reliable DBMS. The same facilities are also essential in addressing failures in live systems, where it is imperative to find and fix production data errors with confidence and precision.

Among the most basic examples of a database is the text file. One notable feature of text files is that it does not support formatting of any kind. Without the excessively complex systems, hierarchies, formatting and methods that the average computer user knows nothing about, the text file becomes a fairly straightforward way of organizing your files, streamlining data enough that it can be read by any kind of system. This information is useful in many tasks, such as sending email.