IPR Law Firm's Distributed Database Management System - Term Paper Example

 IPR Law Firm's Distributed Database Management System Abstract Distributed computing has become popular and widely applicable in industries. The distributed database management systems play a significant role in the storage, organizing, retrieval, analysis and decision making aspects in an organization. This paper aims to study The Architecture And Requirements Of Distributed Database Management System Of An Intellectual Property Rights Law Firm In United States. The paper will identify the problems in the existing architecture and recommend solutions to overcome them. Introduction The distributed database management system is a type of distributed computing that has gained considerable popularity in the recent past. The concept of distributed computing relates to storing and access of multiple computing applications that are distributed on a computer network. The distributed database management systems refer to a software that allows the management of databases distributed on a computer network to provide transparent distribution activity to the user. Furthermore, the distributed database management system acts as a single application that has multiple databases working for it. The user access, stores, retrieve and make changes on the single application. However, the action leads to changes in all the related databases attached to the application in one-time. Aim The goal of this paper is to study the distributed database management system in an Intellectual Property Rights Law Firm based in United States. Objectives The paper has following objectives, namely: 1. To study the distributed database management system in an IPR Law Firm in United States. 2. To examine the general characteristics, requirements and all relevant attributes of a practical distributed database management system working in an IPR Law Firm. 3. To explore and study the architecture of the distributed database management system of an IPR Law Firm. 4. To identify and highlight all the problems and issues associated with the inefficient working of the distributed database management system of an IPR Law Firm. 5. To provide recommendations to overcome those problems and issues to achieve the organizational aims successfully. 6. To gain knowledge of the practical distributed database management system, its components, requirements, associated costs and problems associated with it. Structure of the Paper The structure of the paper is dedicated to the journal’s style and is designed in a way to achieve its objectives. The main body of the discussion is divided into sections, namely: general description, general characteristics, architecture, scope and other characteristics and problems. The paper will end its discussion with a conclusion and recommendations section. Section 1: GENERAL DESCRIPTION General Environment: Purpose Gray and Metz postulated that one of the basic purpose of a distributed database management system is to place the data in easily accessible places for the users to retrieve it on a regular basis (183). The main purpose of a distributed database is to achieve a singular goal for which it has been designed. Therefore, the distributed database management system of an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Law Firm based in United States aims to regulate, share, store, access and modify the various databases that the firm has deployed in separate departments. Type Distributed database system of an IPR law firm is a client-server type system. Omer argued that a client-server is a system where all the computers connected with the main computer are considered as clients (15) . The clients computer connect with the server through the distributed database management system installed in its ROM. The Client computer makes the changes which are directly made in the database residing in the Server Computer. For instance, Figure 1 shows a client-server system where all the computers are clients and are connected with the server to access, read, modify and input more data. According to Distributed Database Management System Guide, the client manages the user interfaces of the distributed database management system only. The server, on the other hand, manages the entire database which is installed on it alone (1). Figure 1: An Example of Client-Server Distributed Database Management System General Structure General structure is a network of 50 computers distributed in 5 separate departments namely: trademark registration, copyright registration, trademark and copyright opposition, patent registration and opposition and litigation. The system is 2-tier in structure which is a typical structure for client/server type of distributed database management system (IBM). In a 2-tier structure, the client directly interacts with the server in contrast to a 3-tier structure that has an application software in the middle to act as a intermediary person for organizing and allocating efficient time for the resources. Primary Users Primary users are internal employees who input updated data which is stored in server computer. Section 2: GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Cost Cost of distributed database management system of an IPR law firm is enormous. Development: $500,000 one time cost Maintenance: $100,000 per annum Security Security is of highest priority Efficiency Efficiency is of medium priority Section 3: ARCHITECTURE The architecture of a distributed database management system is designed in a manner that it assists in storage of the data in the database. Özsu and Valduriez postulated that the sources of data collection are confined to user interfaces only (18). The client computers send the data that is added or modified according to the instructions attached with it. Thus, the difference and distance in the physical existence of the computers does not matter and the users from any location can access, store, retrieve and modify the data in the database. The primary reason for the development of a distributed database management system for an IPR based law firm is to keep its various databases updated with current and correct data on a regular time period. An IPR law firm provides numerous services, namely: Trademark Registrations and Oppositions Copyright Registrations and Oppositions Patent Filings and Oppositions Litigation Each one of the service requires a separate database that is customized to its requirements (Oracle). The employees enter the data in the relevant database and in most of the cases have to interact with the other databases as well. As shown in Figure 2, the IPR law firm based in United States has branch offices in New York, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio. Figure 2: Distributed Database Management Structure of a United States IPR Law Firm Evolution or development of the distributed database management system undergoes Six (6) steps, namely: (1) Integration, (2) Federation, (3) Extensibility, (4) Distribution, (5) Optimization, and (6) Data Independence as shown in Figure 2. Section 4: SOURCES & OTHER CHARACTERISTICS Sources Manual data input by each department. The primary sources of data are the periodicals/Gazettes published by the National offices, customers, and office files. Nature of Information and Data The data entered into the database is only figures and images. The figures deal with the application numbers of the files, registration numbers, classification numbers of trademarks, and patent priority dates, etc. The images relate with the copyrightable works, patent and design diagrams and pictures, and trademark symbols or devices. Basic characteristic of the data Media: The data in a distributed database management system is communicated through the satellite, routers and IP addresses. Volume: The server interface is the largest and has a volume of 80 GB. Thus, large numbers and data of diverse sizes can be stored in the database. Access/Security: All user interfaces are allowed access to the delete and add data into the database. Database computer resources: Computers are conventional and Specialized Signals and communication channels: Digital 512 kbps bandwidth Section 5: PROBLEMS & ISSUES Following are the issues and problems faced by existing distributed database management system of an IPR law firm: Data on the Server can only be updated when Client computer updates it leading to obsolete data and decrease in reliability. One system closes down leading to closing of other systems. If Server halts all Client computers halt too. Virus attack in one computer can spread into others too. Prone to breach of privacy and illegal access. Section 6: CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS The distributed database management system of an IPR law firm is a client/server and 2-tier structure. Its architecture is designed to place all the necessary and frequently used databases on the user interfaces where the data is updated by the users. The changes are saved in the main database residing on the server. There is ample space in the main database which allows the users to modify the data accordingly. However, there are few problems that require addressing to ensure proper achievement of the purpose of having a distributed database management system. Following are the recommendations to overcome the problems: Separating all Client computers from the Server through Firewalls. Separating all Client computers from each other in a network through extended Firewalls. Usage of passwords and log-ins for all Client computers with additional security of secret question. References Database Management System, CF. Link: http://claudiofiandrino.altervista.org/Master_degree/Database_management_system/distributed_database_management.pdf Gray, Jim & Metz, Sandy, "Solving the problems of distributed databases", Data Communications (1983). Link: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gray/papers/Solving%20Problems%20of%20Distributed%20Databases%2010-83.pdf From Database Management to Data Integration (2011), IBM. Link: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/0206roth/0206roth.html Oracle(r) Database Administrator's Guide. Link: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B28359_01/server.111/b28310/ds_concepts001.htm Ozsu, M.Tamer & Valduriez, Patrick, "Distributed DBMS Architecture", UWaterLoo (1999). Link: http://softbase.uwaterloo.ca/~tozsu/ddbook/notes/Architecture/index.htm Umar, Amjad, "Distributed database management systems: Issues and approaches", Ann Arbor, Michigan (1988). Link: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/8042/5/bam0426.0001.001.pdf Read More