Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
workstations distributes data from a central data warehouse or single
database. The distribution refers to the processing, not the data source.
The trend of distributed data mining using relatively inexpensive desktop hardware is largely a
reflection of the economics of modern computing. Not only is the price-performance ratio of desktop
hardware superior to that of mainframe computers, but the cost of desktop software licenses is
typically several orders of magnitude less than that for mainframe computer systems. Of course, if
time is the primary issue, then a mainframe computer optimized for data mining can provide superior
performance compared to small networks of desktop computers.
