Session IX A:Object Persistence

From VOiG

1 Introduction
2 Time and Location
3 Presenters
4 Forum
5 Presentation Materials

[edit] Introduction

Object Persistence within Information Systems, How Relational Databases and Data Access Frameworks Interoperate with Ontology Based Portals

Data holdings are cataloged using different mechanisms. Among them we have ontologies as well as XML based catalogs. In large, complex holdings the amount of entries to the catalog affects the performance and size of it, thus it may not be desirable to store all entries directly. Rather, an alternative is to use object persistence, such as Hibernate or ODBC, and allow for the object constructors in the catalog to instantiate at run time the specific object required. Our experience has shown that Relational Databases Management Systems (RDBMS) perform the best when querying for data, given the highly optimize engine as well as the ease of use of the SQL language. This in combination with Data Access Frameworks, such as OPeNDAP, has allowed for the successful deployment of our latest portals, such as the Earth System Grid (ESG) and the Virtual Solar Terrestrial Observatory (VSTO). We present the best practices to enable Object Persistence within Portals using RDBMS as the back bone for Object Storage.