Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal2077 BSQuestion 10 of 18
What are the major differences between a file system and a database management system?
5 marks
Question source
- Exam year
- 2077 BS / 2021 AD
- Level
- Level 5 (Prabidhik, IT, Barishtha Sahayak)
- Paper
- Paper II – Sewa Sambandhi
- Section
- Section B
Model answer
A file system stores data as separate files/folders (e.g. Excel sheets per station). A DBMS stores related data centrally with management (e.g. MySQL crime database).
| Basis | File System | DBMS |
|---|---|---|
| Redundancy | High — same name in many files | Low — stored once, referenced |
| Integrity | No enforcement; easy mismatch | Validation + referential rules |
| Sharing/security | Hard; file locks, no roles | Concurrent users, role-based access + logs |
| Querying | Manual open/search each file | SQL: "list 2080 Surkhet cases" in seconds |
| Recovery | Manual copy | Backup/restore, transactions |
Offices move from files to DBMS when records grow and accuracy matters.