Enterprise Integration Patterns

Shared Database

Pattern Catalog

An enterprise has multiple applications that are being built independently, with different languages and platforms. The enterprise needs information to be shared rapidly and consistently.

How can I integrate multiple applications so that they work together and can exchange information?

Integrate applications by having them store their data in a single Shared Database.

If a family of integrated applications all rely on the same database, then you can be pretty sure that they are always consistent all of the time. If you do get simultaneous updates to a single piece of data from different sources, then you have transaction management systems that handle that about as gracefully as it ever can be managed. Since the time between updates is so small, any errors are much easier to find and fix.

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Related patterns: Remote Procedure Invocation, File Transfer, Messaging

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For a full description of the pattern see:

Enterprise Integration Patterns
Gregor Hohpe and Bobby Woolf
ISBN 0321200683
650 pages
Addison-Wesley