Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!julian!julian.uwo.ca!peter
From: peter@hadrian.uwo.ca (Peter Marshall)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: Remote database services ???
Message-ID: 
Date: 27 Sep 89 04:45:23 GMT
References: <8079@oregon.uoregon.edu> <34890@apple.Apple.COM>
	<801@metaphor.Metaphor.COM>
Sender: news@julian.uwo.ca
Organization: CCS, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Lines: 39
In-reply-to: philf@xymox.metaphor.com's message of 25 Sep 89 01:44:40 GMT
Posting-Front-End: GNU Emacs 18.47.7 of Tue Mar  1 1988 on myst.uwo.ca (berkeley-unix)

In article <801@metaphor.Metaphor.COM> philf@xymox.metaphor.com (Phil Fernandez) writes:

[Stuff about Stanford's Internet to BRS connection deleted]

   Clearly it is 100% feasible to provide such a capability on the
   Internet, although I'd question whether it should be an
   internet-general function vs. a locally-provided and managed service.

The problem with making it a locally-provided service is that you are
not taking advantage of the high-speed shared cross-country links like
those provided by NSFnet.  This doesn't matter too much when the
database is fairly local, but if your database is on the west coast
and you are on the east it would be a shame to have to do the
long-haul traffic on a special, dedicated (single point of failure,
self managed...) link from your site to the west coast database when
there is a functioning (and professionally managed) internet already
in place.

I think that it would make sense to cooperatively fund high-speed
connections from the Internet to database resources like BRS and
Dialog.  Perhaps the database suppliers would even be willing to
attach a sur-charge to such connections and return this money to the
agency that is making the connection.  The databases could probably
recover their own connection charges through their normal recovery
mechanisms from individual account holders.

Once on the Internet they could explore other, perhaps more productive
means of accessing their databases that are not based on the
time-sharing terminal paradigm: TCP packets may be much more suitable
for a SQL type query than a terminal type connection.  Of course this
course precludes using the type of virtual terminal only connection
that seems to be implemented at Stanford.

--
--
Peter Marshall, Data Comm. Manager
CCS, U. of Western Ontario, London, Canada N6A 5B7
(519)661-2111x6032 or 661-2151 to leave a message 
peter.marshall@uwo.ca pm@uwovax (BITNET); peter@julian.uucp