Looking into a REST-based API for Database-as-a-Service Systems

Haselmann Till, Thies Gunnar, Vossen Gottfried

Abstract

As more and more data-centric services are emergingon the Web, the diversity of APIs in this field increasesrapidly. In addition to the traditional relational model, the scopeof Database-as-a-Service (DaaS) products is broadened by newapproaches, such as the more lenient key-value stores. ManyDaaS APIs address the same concepts, making them incompatiblewith each other, yet not fundamentally different.In this paper, we address this issue by drafting a conceptfor a "universal" API for DaaS systems based on the RESTarchitectural style. The new API is universal in the sense that itis aimed to be suitable for DaaS systems ranging from those thatallow storage of schema-less data to systems with the capabilitiesof a traditional relational database system. After the presentationof the concept, we critically review it, revealing general problemsof such a universal API, and point out a more promising pathfor future work.