Re: RedBrick - what are you?

fgtaylor_at_csc.com (Fred Taylor) wrote:
>
> as360114_at_orion.yorku.ca wrote:
> : Some of my colleagues are talking about a new (?) database called RedBrick. I
> : did not read anything about this database before, and that is why I am posting
> : this message to different newsgroups. I will appreciate any news, facts,
> : rumors, fiction about the product.

RedBrick is a database of sorts whose claim to fame is quick responses for Information Mining applications. It accomplishes this feat by essentially performing pre-joins on all relevant tables at load time. This results in long loads, but fast responses on large, multi-table joins. It also means that the database cannot be updated in place as the information changes. If the usage is strictly info mining, then the usefulness to load time ratio works out right - sometimes. With volatile data, it proves to be a bit of a hassle in real life.

There are other technologies released or under development which have the same end results, without some of the restrictions. Visit comp.databases.olap for exposure to some of the multi-dimensional folk, and watch for announcements expected later this year from some well-known, but new-to-database companies tackling this problem.

Hope this helps!

Mark Federman
federman_at_hookup.net Received on Tue Mar 14 1995 - 07:16:22 CET