The Challenge
A.J. Boggs received funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and three other federal agencies, to develop a directory service to improve access to relevant information in widely distributed databases.
The Solution
By incorporating an Internet-based distributed directory protocol, using Whois++ and the Common Indexing Protocol, A.J. Boggs evaluated a mesh of index servers which allowed for the rapid location of resources and the power to maintain current indices and avoid centralized servers.
The Results
The project has led to several more research efforts (LogCast, Lifedata, and ITSZone), commercial successes (Toxnet, Paratext, TAP, and CLCD), and produced A.J. Boggs’ PISCES search engine. Several other technologies were developed and remain under development. A.J. Boggs continues to develop products that build upon the successes of this important research project, emphasizing unified index systems of distributed databases over web infrastructure.