### Relational database basics

The most popular architecture for database files used in the corporate world is based on the relational model. Applications that allow you to create databases with the relational model are, therefore, often referred to as Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS).

In a relational database, data is organized in a system of rows and columns. The rows are called records, and the columns are called fields. Each record contains a collection of related data, all information relating to a specific customer, for example. Each field refers to a common type of data that exists in all records, the names of the customers, for example. Records and fields are stored in a database table.

Often, data in two different tables can be related by a common field. For example, a Customers table will have a Customer ID for each customer, and an Orders table will have the Customer ID of each customer who placed an order, demonstrating a relationship between tables. The two tables can be linked by a common field see Linking tables.

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