In data-center architecture, the data is centralized and accessed frequently by other components, which modify data. The main purpose of this style is to achieve integrality of data. Data-centered architecture consists of different components that communicate through shared data repositories. The components access a shared data structure and are relatively independent, in that, they interact only through the data store.
The most well-known examples of the data-centered architecture is a database architecture, in which the common database schema is created with data definition protocol – for example, a set of related tables with fields and data types in an RDBMS.
Another example of data-centered architectures is the web architecture which has a common data schema (i.e. meta-structure of the Web) and follows hypermedia data model and processes communicate through the use of shared web-based data services.
Types of Components
There are two types of components −
- A central datastructure or data store or data repository, which is responsible for providing permanent data storage. It represents the current state.
- A data accessoror a collection of independent components that operate on the central data store, perform computations, and might put back the results.
Interactions or communication between the data accessors is only through the data store. The data is the only means of communication among clients. The flow of control differentiates the architecture into two categories −
- Repository Architecture Style
- Blackboard Architecture Style
