In a federated system, a data source can be a relational database (such as Oracle or Sybase) or a nonrelational data source (such as an XML tagged file).
Through some data sources you can access other data sources. For example, with the ODBC wrapper you can access IBM® InfoSphere® Classic Federation Server for z/OS® data sources such as DB2® for z/OS, IMS™, CA-IDMS, CA-Datacom, Software AG Adabas, and VSAM.
The method, or protocol, used to access a data source depends on the type of data source. For example, DRDA® is used to access DB2 for z/OS data sources.
Data sources are autonomous. For example, the federated server can send queries to Oracle data sources at the same time that Oracle applications can access these data sources. A federated system does not monopolize or restrict access to the other data sources, beyond integrity and locking constraints.