Briefly describe the history of database processing.

The predecessor of database processing was file processing, where data were maintained on magnetic tape. Database processing as we know it today became possible with the availability of direct access disk storage in the 1960s. Using this storage, both the hierarchical and network data model were developed. In 1970, E. F. Codd of IBM proposed the relational model, which is the standard model used today. Current DBMSs such as DB2, Oracle and SQL Server are based on the relational model. The appearance of microcomputer-based DBMSs in the 1980s led to a "bloodbath" from which Microsoft Access emerged as the dominant PC workstation DBMS. More recent events include the introduction of object-oriented DBMSs (OODBMSs), and the development of tools such as XML to allow the use of database systems over the Internet.

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