Exporting Database Functionality — The CONCERT Way

In order to extend database technology beyond traditional applications a new paradigm called “exporting database functionality” as a radical departure from traditional thinking has been proposed in research and development. Traditionally, all data is loaded into and owned by the database, whereas according to the new paradigm data may reside outside the database in external repositories or archives. Nevertheless, database functionality, such as query processing, indexing, and transaction management, is provided. In this paper we report on theCONCERT project that exports physical database design for advanced applications, and we discuss the consequences for transaction management, that becomes an important coordination task inCONCERT.