Editing Database engine (section)

{{Short description|Component of a database management system}}
A '''database engine''' (or '''storage engine''') is the underlying software component that a [[database management system]] (DBMS) uses to [[create, read, update and delete]] (CRUD) [[data]] from a [[database]]. Most database management systems include their own [[application programming interface]] (API) that allows the user to interact with their underlying engine without going through the user interface of the DBMS.

The term "database engine" is frequently used interchangeably with "[[database server]]" or "database management system". A "database instance" refers to the processes and memory structures of the running database engine.