A closer look at WebSphere Federation Server

The components of WebSphere^® Federation Server include the federated server and database, wrappers, nicknames, and other federated objects. Capabilities of WebSphere Federation Server that provide performance and flexibility for integration projects include compensation, the query optimizer, and two-phase commit.

• The federated server and database
  Central components of a federated system include the federated server and the federated database.
• Wrappers and other federated objects
  Within a federated server and federated database, you use connectors (referred to as wrappers in the federated system), server definitions, user mappings, and nicknames to configure connections to a data source and to reference objects within the data source.
• Query optimization
  The federated database optimizes the performance of SQL queries against heterogeneous data sources by leveraging the DB2 query optimizer and by determining when it is faster to process a query on the data source or on the federated database.
• Two-phase commit for federated transactions
  A federated system can use two-phase commit for transactions that access one or more data sources. Two-phase commit can safeguard data integrity in a distributed environment.
• Rational Data Architect
  Rational^® Data Architect is a companion product to the WebSphere Federation Server component of IBM Information Server that helps you design databases, understand information assets and their relationships, and streamline integration projects.

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This topic is also in the IBM Information Server Introduction.

Last updated: 2008-09-15