Report 78 04 Distributed Database Coupling

The term "distributed database" encompasses systems of great diversity. The fact that there is a great variety of distributed databases makes their study and comparison difficult. It is hence important to clearly define what is meant by a given distributed database; it is also important to understand the spectrum of available alternatives. This understanding should elucidate the design of distributed databases and clarify the comparison of different systems. We will define a distributed database in a general way, so as to Include most types of distributed databases: A distributed database is a system that allows integrated access to a collection of logically independent databases [Garcia77].