The data management machine, a classification

Abstract

There has been much interest in the use of special purpose processors as the data base management component of data processing systems. The generic terms “backend” and “data management machine” have been applied to such devices. Examination of the literature reveals a broad cross section of host to backend functional distribution and interconnection methodology. This discussion represents an attempt to examine and classify several of these backend data base management machine configurations in terms of their operational parameters and application constraints. A formal taxonomy of such systems remains yet to be performed. At least three distinct classes of data management machine (DMM) are evidenced in the literature; they are the large host backend, distributed network data node and smart peripheral. The intended classes of problem that the various authors envision amenable to solution by the DMM approach exhibit overlap while the performance envelope in which each DMM architecture would provide a technically acceptable, economically sound solution to a given user requirement set varies. Some of the papers used as source for this work contained no explicit mention of either the problem classes or performance constraints that the described configuration was to address; thus liberty has been taken in interpreting the implicit application goals of these authors.