A distributed transaction model for read-write linked data applications

Abstract

Read-write Linked Data applications provide a novel alternative to application integration that helps breaking data silos by combining the Semantic Web technologies with the REST design principles. One drawback that hinders the adoption of this approach in enterprise systems is the lack of transactions support. Transactions play a vital role in enterprise systems because inconsistent data can lead to problems, such as monetary losses or legal issues. This paper presents a thesis that aims at defining a REST-compliant transaction model for distributed read-write Linked Data applications. The model extends the ‘transactions as resources’ approach using a set of hypermedia-controls defined by a transactions ontology and a multiversion concurrency mechanism. The author plans to formalize the transaction model which will then be evaluated to ensure the correctness and to perform a performance benchmark to evaluate the feasibility of using it in real world Linked Data applications.