IT'S NO WONDER relational databases are beginning to support the XML standard; XML is fast becoming the de facto method of data exchange in e-business settings. But before you implement your XML processing strategy, you need to consider another option: native XML databases.

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Native XML databases do not replace your traditional relational database, nor do they negate the benefits of native XML support in relational databases. Native XML databases support a variety of database access types and application programming interfaces you can use to perform XML translations and to store XML documents in their native form. By using a native XML database to stage data for XML processing, you can effectively support all of your data sources without having to outfit each one with native XML handling capabilities.

There are two principal reasons to implement a native XML database. First, consider the data sources in your enterprise today. Are you using a mix of relational database products? Do you have data housed in object-oriented databases or unstructured data that needs to be exchanged with partners? Native XML databases can leverage all of these disparate sources.

The second reason to consider a native XML database solution is to boost processing performance. The data sources you will use to carry out XML-based transactions will likely also be used by other applications. Rather than slow down non-XML access by these apps, you could implement a native XML database as an intermediate cache.

For example, you might receive XML documents from business partners and store them in a native XML database. You could then process the XML documents and update your internal data sources during non-peak hours. This would maximize database access for applications and end-users while boosting the performance of XML-based transactions.