Distributed and Multi-Database Systems (The Artech House Computer Science Library) [Hardcover]

Angelo R Bobak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0890066140 | ISBN-13: 978-0890066140 | Edition: 2nd

Provides the foundation and understanding necessary for proper design of databases for today's distributed and multi-database architectures. DLC: Distribution databases.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Artech Print on Demand; 2nd edition (November 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890066140
• ISBN-13: 978-0890066140
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,896,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well structured and easy to read, but not very useful, August 6, 1999

By 

Arno Schaefer (Frankfurt, Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Distributed and Multi-Database Systems (The Artech House Computer Science Library) (Hardcover)

I read this book to get some ideas for setting up a database with multiple servers in different countries. One requirement was high availability and fast response times under the condition of instable network connections. I am not a database expert, so I can not assess the accuracy and completeness of the material very well. The following is my view as a "novice" reader.

The book is divided into three parts: theory, distributed database architectures, and multi-database architectures. Part one introduces relational algebra, SQL, database models (hierarchical, network, relational), ER-diagrams and such. Part two concentrates on homogenous distributed database architectures. Part three is about heterogenous (e.g. mixed hierarchical/relational) distributed database systems.

The book is demonstratively well structured and easy to read. The author begins with a roadmap, and each chapter begins with a statement of purpose, a description what will follow and how this relates to the topic. I found part one to be a decent introduction to general database concepts. However, I had the impression that the book is too shallow overall. One of the more noticable omissions (to me) is in the part about deadlocks: the author concentrates entirely on deadlock detection, while deadlock avoidance and deadlock prevention are not even mentioned. I can't say if this is because the latter are not used in databases. Moreover, as another reader noted, the examples are full of errors, which is quite annoying.

Altogether, the book entirely failed to give me any hints for solving my problem. Data replication, which is probably the one technique that I need to apply under the circumstances described above, is mentioned in only one paragraph in the entire book. The author instead focuses entirely on database partitioning. If you need that, the book may be for you, although I assume there are better books on the subject. I do not recommend this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The book contains too many errors, July 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Distributed and Multi-Database Systems (The Artech House Computer Science Library) (Hardcover)

The book is good in the sense of the simplicity with which the author tries to explain and introduce the concepts. However, it is full of errors: I could not find one example without errors. Specially in Chapter 4, which introduces SQL, there are too many errors. That is unforgivable!! I think the author of this book did not even check what he was writing. I do not recommend this book to anyone until a serious revision of all the examples is perfomed!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't trust the examples given, October 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Distributed and Multi-Database Systems (The Artech House Computer Science Library) (Hardcover)

This book is not difficult to understand. However, I find that this book's examples have too many errors. For example, in chapter 8, the examples given have errors. The result of the examples are not what I expected. It makes me feel whether my understanding is correct or not. Moreover, there is no author email address in this book. The reader cannot send comments to the author.