At first, we just have a simple idea on datasource access. But as everything take on, the problem about datasource access have been considered as a big problem in datatransfer. And it also a key point in VDBI protocol. There are two in front of us: first one, we should adapte all of the protential datasource by ourselves, just like the other, we realize the adapter one by one. And the other is that we just give a interface for data access, and the service provider should make a data service convey the VDBI. At last, we decide to realize a common data source and leave the work to the service provider whose data service is not following the common data form.
So, we defined a architecture about the data access. First, we handle the request from the user, and the first step is to authoized the right from the user, and the result will decide to continue access the resource or back a error code. On the right condition, we access the resource by the url given by the client, and get the description of the resource. Noted the backend of the resource maybe a file on website, a file or directory on the ftp or webdav, even a record in a database. The description just following the format of VDBI protocol. By this way, all resource may be describe in a uniform way and may be transfer from one service provider to another, all should we do just type the url of the resource.
Maybe you have noticed that the service may be have the magic transfter for one server to another. Yes, you are right, it is another charactor of the architecture. It have the proxy method to convey teh data description all-in-one server. And you also could services seperate, for the VDBI just base the http, the url has two means itself: first, you locate it as a resource. second, the resource maybe could visit by browser. So, if we describe the resource in web resource, and then consider itself as web resource too, then we will get a resource web by http, in which the resource can contact with each other, and they could describe each other by the resource of http resource. It is semetic web. Yes, It is end of VDBI.