Metcalfe's Law and Data Marts.(Networked data marts)(Technology Information)

Enterprise Systems Journal,  May, 2001  by Gentry, Jeff

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The author examines the concept of using networked data marts.

Practically everyone has heard of Moore's Law, which states that the processing power of CPUs doubles every 18 months. However, there is a less-known law that might soon become popular -- Metcalfe's Law. Simply stated, Metcalfe's Law says the potential value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of nodes in the network. Metcalfe's Law is v=[xn.sup.2], where v=value, n=nodes on the network and x is a constant value.

This law applies to many different things. A few automobiles would not be very valuable ...

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