Pioneering Distributed Data Management: How does SDD-1 handle data distribution? This paper introduces SDD-1, a distributed database management system developed by Computer Corporation of America. The goal of SDD-1 is to provide users with a seamless experience, interacting with the system as if it were a non-distributed database. The system automatically handles all complexities arising from data distribution. The overview outlines the key design principles of SDD-1 and its solutions to critical challenges, including distributed concurrency control, distributed query processing, resilience to component failure, and distributed directory management. This allows users to interact with data without needing a deep insight into their physical location. This paper serves as the foundation for a series of companion papers on SDD-1, presenting an early yet influential approach to distributed data management. It remains a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners in database systems.
Published in ACM Transactions on Database Systems, this foundational paper aligns perfectly with the journal's focus on database technology and management. The introduction of SDD-1 contributes to the understanding of distributed database systems, a key area in database research. Its citations within the database community demonstrate its lasting impact.