A DBMS is software that manages databases and allows for querying and modifying stored data. It provides benefits like reduced development time, concurrent access, and crash recovery. A DBMS has components like a user interface, data manager, file manager, and disk manager that interact to handle user requests. The data manager processes requests, the file manager retrieves data blocks, and the disk manager accesses the physical storage, while the transaction and recovery managers ensure data integrity and concurrency.