A
federated database design can assure transparent access from the central console to the more detailed data stored on the intelligent edge devices, as necessary.
Ingres r3, released into open source in August 2004, offers high database performance, scalability and manageability, including peer-to-peer replication and
federated database support for advanced distributed query processing, claims the company.
For example, the CMGCC recently launched the Mouse
Federated Database, an integrated bioinformatics tool that allows access to the biological data on CMGCC mouse models.
However, there is a risk that it could soon be eclipsed by the XML-based
federated database technology being developed by Oracle, Microsoft and others.
Federated database systems in principle support bi-directionality and also protect existing investment, but generic solutions adaptable for health care--in spite of more than two decades of research--have proved elusive.