| Pacific Lutheran University uses several centralized database systems to store graduate alumni information. The basis of this thesis is the conjecture that Microsoft Access could be used to implement a distributed database system that would improve both the access to and maintenance of this data. This thesis investigates the problems encountered while designing and implementing this distributed database system. In particular, how well Microsoft Access handles the distributed database problems of data replication, degree of transparency, query processing, failures within the system, privacy, and security. The results of the investigation reveal that Microsoft Access handles most of the above mentioned problems in an acceptable manner, and was used successfully to build the proposed project. |
