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From: "Thomas Dowling" <[log in to unmask]> > You can define differences between meta-, federated, and broadcast search, > but > every discussion on the topic will be punctuated by people asking, "Wait, > what's the difference again?" Leaving aside metasearch and broadcast search (terms invented more recently) it is a shame if "federated" has really lost its distinction from"distributed". Historically, a federated database is one that integrates multiple (autonomous) databases so it is in effect a virtual distributed database, though a single database. I don't think that's a hard concept and I don't think it is a trivial distinction. --Ray