Data distribution in a computer network

The design of a hardware configuration to fit the varying needs of any given application system is a difficult task. Requirements for the application system often are vague. Data management requirements for the application system are often underestimated. It is the purpose of this thesis to explore hardware configurations for large-scale data base systems, and to attempt to give some insight into possible designs for those systems. In particular, the question that will be addressed is the effectiveness of distributed data base systems as opposed to centralized data base systems, and the applicability of the distributed systems to the solutions of common computing problems. The thesis will briefly describe several computer networks, with emphasis on hardware configurations. These configurations will be broken into functional components for a basis of comparison and simulation. The case study will then be defined and two hardware configurations proposed for case study analysis. These two configurations will be compared from performance, cost, and reliability viewpoints. Conclusions will be drawn both with regard to the case study and with large-scale data base systems in general.