This document provides an introduction to database management systems (DBMS). It discusses what a DBMS is, common database applications, and drawbacks of using file systems to store data that DBMS aim to address, such as data redundancy, integrity issues, and concurrent access problems. It also summarizes key components of a DBMS, including its logical and physical levels of abstraction, data models, data definition and manipulation languages, storage management, query processing, transaction management, and common database architectures.