3. Database storage and duplication

Most flat file databases such as a spreadsheet can only store up to 64,000 records per worksheet. And if this many were used, then the application may be so slow that it becomes unusable.

A proper DBMS system can easily cope with millions of records without loss of performance.

Also, a well-designed relational database has no (or very little) data duplication. (See the normalisation mini-web site that explains this.)

This makes DBMS much more efficient at storing data than a flat-file system.