Next-generation parallel database systems

The penetration of database technology into new application areas with different
requirements than traditional business data processing has motivated the notion
of next-generation database systems. One major objective is that
the data model to be supported must be more powerful than the relational
model, without compromising its advantages (data independence and high-level
query languages). When applied to more complex application domains such as
engineering, office information systems, and expert systems, the relational data
model exhibits limitations in terms of rule management, type system and complex
object support.

To address these issues, two important technologies, KBMSs and
OODBMSs, are currently being investigated. Initially considered antagonistic,
many believe today that a combination of their capabilities into deductive and
object-oriented database (DOOD) systems will shape next-generation, universal
database systems. For the same reasons which led to parallel relational database
systems, implementing KBMSs and OODBMSs on parallel computers can be
cost-effective. Obviously, this presents new, challenging research problems in
addition to the current issues of KBMSs and OODBMSs.