very large database (VLDB)

A Very Large Database (VLDB) is a very large database with millions of entries. A VLDB database cannot be defined by exact orders of magnitude, since these are constantly increasing.

In the 1990s, data volumes of several terabytes( TB) were assumed, which could well correspond to several billion data records, but in the meantime this order of magnitude has increased to exabytes( EB).

The transition to the even larger database, the Ultra Large Database (ULDB), is therefore fluid. Both terms are used synonymously. A VLDB has a relational database management system( RDBMS), the corresponding computer hardware and storage units with the necessary storage space. It must be aligned with the future increasing demand for storage capacity.