Access to Data with Data Federation

Sybase Data Federation simplifies data access by providing one unified data layer with a single data catalog.

Applications, application developers, and end users all need access to accurate, consistent, and current data in order to do their jobs. Applications need data to fuel business processes and provide information to decision-makers. Application developers need to integrate data into their applications. Knowledge workers need access to data to make a thousand small and large decisions every day.

Developers and integrators spend countless hours today finding or managing data, and countless hours writing code to integrate, aggregate, and transform data from multiple sources around the organization. This time could be spent on more productive activities of only there were a fast, easy way to get acess to data. For developers this means simple, industry-standard APIs that provide data in the form needed by applications.

Data Federation helps you simplify data access by providing one unified data layer with a single data catalog. With this unified approach:

• Users and developers have one place to go to find what they need, and do not need to know where data is physically located. Users and developers can search across the entire data catalog to find the data they need.

• Applications have one way to reference data—by catalog entry. They do not need to hard code data locations. References to catalog entries are resolved dynamically at run time.

• Data is available using a number of protocols and interfaces so users and applications can use the means that is most appropriate for their end.

• Applications have one standard set of interfaces for accessing data (one JDBC driver, for example) regardless of the specifics of the data source.

• Real-Time Access
  Data owners can grant access to original data while using caching and other mechanisms to safeguard production systems. As a result, data can be made available to users and applications much more efficiently. Data owners can choose the frequency of cache updates based on the importance of fresh data to the data consumer’s business goal.
• Data Access for Users
  Users who will only be accessing file data and do not need other features can have completely transparent access to Sybase Data Federation data through standard file system protocols. They will see only their standard file system and do not even need to know they are accessing data through Data Federation.
• Data Access for Applications
  Applications can access data in a variety of ways, including ODBC/JDBC, file read/write, and web services/SOAP.
• Searching and Metadata
  One benefit of a unified data catalog is that users can search the entire set of objects or any meaningful subset.
• Caching in a Nutshell
  Sybase Data Federation uses caching to insulate production data sources from haphazard access, to maintain good performance for users and applications, to refresh data in a granular way based on business needs, and to ensure maximum data availability.
• Auditing and Compliance
  Data Federation’s audit logging capabilities can help ensure the security of your customer information and other data while at the same time enabling you to comply with legal requirements for internal/external control systems.

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