OODBMS for a DAQ system

The data acquisition of a HEP experiment requires the setting, querying and manipulation of many parameters to be accessed by different parts of the DAQ system. Object-Oriented DataBase Management Systems (OODBMS) appear to fit the requirements of such applications quite successfully. In this paper the authors present their experiences and impressions while evaluating two commercial OODBMS, GemStone and ITASCA, as part of the RD13 project to study DAQ systems in view of LHC-like experiments. The goal of the evaluation was to compare the two systems and study the applicability of the Object-Oriented approach with respect to the relational systems already in use.