Benchmarking Object-Oriented DBMSs for Workflow Management

This paper addresses the performance requirements of this DBMS, and examines the ability of object database technology to meet these requirements. The LabFlow-1 benchmark concisely describes the database requirements of a WFMS in a highthroughput genome laboratory. Although based on genome-laboratory workflow, we believe that LabFlow-1 captures the database requirements of a common class workflow management applications: those that require a production workflow system [19]. In a production workflow system, workflow activities are organized into a kind of production line, involving a mix of human and computer activities. Examples in business include insurance-claim or loan-application processing. Production workflow systems are typically complex, high-volume, and central to the organizations that rely on them; certainly these characteristics apply to the laboratory workflow-management systems used in high-throughput genome laboratories. Many production workflows are organized around central materials of some kind, which the workflow activities operate on. Examples of central materials include insurance claims, loan applications, and laboratory samples. As a central material is processed, workflow activities gather information about it. Production workflow systems include the class of Laboratory Information Management Systems