database management system (DBMS), system for quick search and retrieval of information from a database. The DBMS determines how data are stored and retrieved. It must address problems such as security, accuracy, consistency among different records, response time, and memory requirements. These issues are most significant for database systems on computer networks. Relational DBMSs, in which data are organized into a series of tables (“relations”) that are easily reorganized for accessing data in different ways, are the most widely used.