Even the most powerful computers have finite processing and storage – eventually a database will exceed those limits. Thus, a distributed database is designed to spread the processing and storage of data across multiple machines. Such distribution introduces challenges for availability, concurrency, and joins when processing queries.

Learning Objectives

  • Compare and contrast centralized and distributed databases
  • Describe the techniques used by a distributed database management system (DBMS) for joins

How to Complete this Lesson

Complete the following learning activities: (2.75–3.25 hours total)

  1. Read Fundamentals of Database Management Systems Chapter 12: Client / Server Database and Distributed Database (45 minutes)
  2. Attend the class meeting (60 minutes)
  3. Complete the optional homework on distributed databases (15 minutes)
  4. Take the quiz (10 minutes)
  5. Start working on the project’s web application (30–60 minutes)

Due

As a reminder, the following is due this lesson:

Resources

« Transactions and Concurrency Performance and Optimization »