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Object / Object-Relational

Database Management Systems

Brief History & Outlook

Jamie Shiers, IT-DB, CERN

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Overview Evolution of Object & Object-Relational DBMS

Status of Market today

Outlook

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DefinitionsFrom Stonebraker:Object-Relational DBMSs:The Next Great Wave

Filesystems: no query

RDBMS: query, simple data

ODBMS: no (poor) query,complex data

ORDBMS: query & complex (Picture Akmal Chaudri)

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RDBMS E.F.Codd: A Relational Model of Data for

Large Shared Data Banks, CACM 13, 6

(June 1970) pp 377 387 See http://wwwinfo.cern.ch/db/aboutdbs/papers/SRC-1997-018.pdf

Led to numerous commercial products:Oracle, SQL/DS, DB-2, SYBASE, Informix,MS SQLServer, etc.

In use at CERN since early 1980s

Oracle Users Guide V2.3

Relational S/W Inc.

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ODBMS Started ~late 1980s in research

projects

Altar p O2, Objectivity/DB, Ontos,

Target markets (Cattell): CAD, CASE,CAP, Scientific/Medical, AI, etc.

Object-Oriented DB Manifesto: An OO DBMS must satisfy 2 criteria:

1. It should be a DBMS

2. It should be object-oriented

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ODBMS Speculation

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ODBMS Reality Market much smaller than predicted

Rationalisation

but less than in RDBMS market O2 presumably now belongs to IBM!

What happened?

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Market Numerous dinosaur analogies

After all, IBM invented RDBMS technology and

only now(?) have a competitive RDBMS product Can lightning strike twice / thrice?

Predictions of ODBMS market: revised downin 1998 timeframe

Original predictions (apparently) included ORDBMScomponent

In other words, $1-2B includes Oracles share

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Technology ODBMS initially worked with Smalltalk,

C++, CO2,

Mainstream?

Industry focus is now on Java, XML,

The latter provided sufficient impetus

for established vendors to enhance theirproducts

See, for example, VLDB papers:

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VLDB Papers

1989: complex objects / object modeling

1990: performance of OODBs

1999: XML; Extending SQL with user-defineddata types O-O, What Have They Done to DB2?

2000: A Database Platform for Bioinformatics

The need for complex data models has nowmoved mainstream

The established vendors have seen it comingand have reacted

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Impact on ODBMS Down-turn of ODBMS market blamed

on RDBMS announcements

e.g. Oracle 8.0, 8i,

Oracle 9i claims complete objectsupport according to SQL-99 standard

C++ binding provides ODMG-likeinterface for C++ programmers withboth navigational & associative access

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RDBMS + objectextensions Can store ADTs

Methods on server

Complex Data withQueries

$8B in 1996

Likely to becomedominant DBMStechnology

Complex Data

Performance,

scalability Tight Language

Binding OQL - SQL3 query subset

Growth similar toRDBMS in 80s

~$1B market by2001

ODBMS / RDBMS / ORDBMS

~$100M?

From 1999 RD45 Status report

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CERN/IT/DB Risk Analysis:

Summary of Options Evaluate C++ binding to e.g. ORACLE Add ESCROW clause to Objectivity contract

Pursue possibility of source license

Visit key Objectivity customers

Produce new requirements list

Estimate manpower to support Objy in house

Estimate manpower for clean-sheet solution

Continue to monitor alternatives

The LCB agrees with the other suggested steps to mitigate risk,

with the addition of trying to insure that user code in reconstruction

and analysis programs is kept as standards compliant as possible.

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Espresso Preliminary results from the Espresso proof-of-concept

prototype suggest that a home-grown ODBMS focussingon HEP needs could be built with a reasonable amountof manpower, perhaps some 15 person-years in total.However, it is far from clearwhere even such a modestamount of manpower could come from, particularly in a

period when the overallCERN manpower is shrinking. Acertain amount of manpower could possibly be foundwithin the collaborations and at external institutes.However, a core team responsible for the maindevelopments would most likely have a significantimpact on the viability of such a project. In theimmediate future, there is essentially no manpoweravailable beyond that to complete the performance and

scalability tests and write an architectural document. Inthe longer term, a home-grown ODBMS remains a

possible fallback solution, although the time to developa full product suggests that this will no longer be truemuch later than 2002.

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Oracle C++ Binding Numerous C++ wrappers to Oracles C

interface exist

With Oracle 9i, a C++ binding,modelled on JDBC, comes with theproduct

Had this existed in 1995, history mightwell have been different

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Oracle 9i studies Focus of this workshop Well, today & tomorrow

Discussed at last Julys RD45workshopAs Oracle 8.2 the number changed but

the features did not

During the Hoffmann Review of LHCComputing

Activity kicked off after IT Eloisemeeting

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Eloise ActionsThe possibility of a joint project betweenOracle and CERN should be explored to allowparticipation in the Oracle 9i F test with thegoals of evaluating this product as a potentialfallback solution and providing timelyfeedback on physics-style requirements. Non-

staff human resources should be identifiedsuch that there is no impact on currentproduction services for Oracle andObjectivity.