Overview of emerging database architectures

A database system is a miniworld data repository representing some aspects of the real world. In a database system, information is well organized and has some inherent meaning. In recent years, the emergence of new types of computer applications, such as multimedia and computer-added manufacturing, have resulted in demands to manage complex data types that are beyond the capabilities of existing relational databases. At the same time, new developments in network technologies, artificial intelligence, semantic modeling, and object-oriented programming have inspired research in database topics such as distributed, deductive, object-oriented, active, and deductive and object-oriented databases (DOOD). Essentially, the most promising new database technologies combine the merits of different kinds of database architectures. Starting with the relational database architecture, this paper will review the emerging database technologies, and thereby, provide insight into current and future directions in database technologies.