Distributed Database Systems

Paper Summary:

This paper examines distributed database systems. The paper first defines a distributed database system and discusses how such a system works. The paper then looks at the advantages and disadvantages to this type of system. In addition, the paper discusses aspects such as economics, infrastructure, maintenance and the necessary management system to ensure its smooth use.

From the Paper:

"It goes without saying that the transactions on the system must also be transparent, which is to say that each transaction must maintain database integrity across the entire system of multiple databases. Each transaction is divided into subtransactions, and thus each of the subtransactions will only affect the single database which it is accessing."
"There are advantages and disadvantages to this type of system and the decision to use such a distributed database is contingent upon several factors. When economics is considered, as it generally is, the cost of setup and operation of a series of small computers is less than the purchase and maintainance of one giant computer. Naturally when a series of smaller and separate databases are running, the downtime for one affects only that particular server, where with a single large computer, when it is down the entire system is down."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Webopedia.com 2002 Distributed Database Retrieved 12-28-2006 from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/distributed_database.html
• Wikipedia.org 2006 Distributed Database Retrieved 12-29-2006 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_database

More papers on Distributed Database Systems:

• Essay # 28035 : "Database System in a Retail Environment"
• Term Paper # 106791 : "The Importance of Database Security"
• Essay # 59818 : "Distribution Systems"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: