Domain analysis, a classical approach to the indentification of reusable software modules, relies on in-depth studies of existing systems, published algorithms, and structures to discern generic architectures for large classes of systems. An architecture is a template in which building-block modules can be plugged. Interfaces are standardized to make blocks interchangeable. The authors explain how domain analysis has led them to a building-blocks technology for file management systems (FMSs), and they describe their most recent prototype, an FMS synthesizer. The synthesizer enables a customized FMS to be assembled from prewritten components in minutes at virtually no cost.>

A quantitative performance study of two-phase locking in a parallel database machine using a simulation-based methodology is presented. The DBSIM simulation methodology uses a Petri-net model at the higher level and a queuing network model at the lower level. The Petri net model captures the characteristics of parallelism and synchronization at the workload level, while the queuing network model captures queuing aspects of the system at the physical resource level. Transactions in a workload are specified using a performance-oriented specification language based on the transaction component graph: a data-flow graph with database operators. The transaction specifications are translated into Petri-net representations to drive the simulation experiments. Results of an analysis of a two-phase locking strategy with machine sizes ranging from 4 to 256 processors are presented.>

A quantitative performance study of two-phase locking in a parallel database machine using a simulation-based methodology is described. The DBSIM simulation methodology uses models at two levels: a Petri net model at the higher level and a queuing network model at the lower level. The Petri net model captures the characteristics of parallelism and synchronization at the workload level, while the queuing network model captures queuing aspects of the system at the physical resource level. Transactions in a workload are specified using a performance-oriented specification language based on the transaction component graph, a data flow graph with database operators. The transaction specifications are translated into Petri net representations to derive the simulation experiments. The workload is a transaction taken from an order-entry application. A shared-nothing parallel machine architecture is assumed. Results of analysis of a two-phase locking strategy with machine sizes ranging from 4 to 256 processors are presented.>

A novel yet simple technology is presented that enables customized database management systems (DBMSs) to be developed rapidly. The authors are designing an extensible DBMS, called GENESIS, which is based on this theory. They give a detailed description of their first operational prototype. DBMS software components in GENESIS can be written in a few months. When all components for a target DBMS are present, writing the architecture specification of the DBMS and reconfiguring GENESIS takes a few hours and can be accomplished with negligible cost.>