Dynamic Management View (DMV)

Useful Dynamic Management View (DMV) resources

Free SQL Server DMV Starter Pack
A free eBook  that describes 28 different ways that DMVs can be used with SQL Server
http://www.bradmcgehee.com/2010/07/free-sql-server-dmv-starter-pack/

The Periodic Table of DMVs
http://www.brentozar.com/dmvs/

Performance Tuning with SQL Server Dynamic Management Views by Louis Davidson and Tim Ford
http://www.simple-talk.com/books/sql-books/performance-tuning-with-sql-server-dynamic-management-views/
Scripts
http://www.simple-talk.com/redgatebooks/davidsonford/dmv_code.zip

Recap of April 2010 DMV a Day Series
http://sqlserverperformance.wordpress.com/2010/05/02/recap-of-april-2010-dmv-a-day-series/

MySQL Clustering

For MySql clustering a few useful articles about providing high availability are below

MySQLCluster 7.1
http://www.mysql.com/products/cluster/

Information on MySQL Cluster and MySQL Replication blog
http://www.clusterdb.com/

MySQL Cluster Manager 1.1.2 – creating a Cluster is now trivial
http://www.clusterdb.com/mysql-cluster/mysql-cluster-manager-1-1-2-creating-a-cluster-is-now-trivial/

MySQL Cluster 7.1 Cheat Sheet
http://www.clusterdb.com/mysql-cluster-7-1-cheat-sheet/

MySQL Cluster 7.2: NoSQL, Key/Value, Memcached
http://dev.mysql.com/tech-resources/articles/mysql-cluster-7.2.html
This provides a new option for multi-site clustering.
MySQL Cluster 7.2.1 is integrated with MySQL Server 5.5. You have all the benefits of an ACID RDBMS, combined with the performance capabilities of Key/Value store.This allows schema-less data storage.
Oracle University Free Summer learning on MySQL Part I
http://www.oracle.com/uk/education/eblast/uk-mysql-training-230811-ol-459574-en-gb.html?sc=WWOU11036077MPP003C015

Oracle University Free Summer learning on MySQL Part II
http://www.oracle.com/webapps/dialogue/ns/dlgwelcome.jsp?p_ext=Y&p_dlg_id=9799792&src=7297607&Act=8

ScaleBase shatters MySQL for scalability
The article explains "it is a proxy server that sits in front of the actual database and in this case, the tool breaks a monolithic relational database into chunks and spreads it out across multiple physical servers. "
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/16/scalebase_database_sharding/

Research Question Revised

After various iterations my research question stands as 

How can the complex interactions, both extrinsic and intrinsic to the database, lead to a better understanding of database systems and their management?

In what ways could this lead to the emergence of improvement and innovation?