<sod>A '''distributed database''' is a [[database]]  in which [[computer data storage|storage devices]] are not all attached to a common processing unit such as the [[CPU]],<ref>http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-012/_1750.htm</ref> and which is controlled by a distributed [[database management system]]{{clarify|perhaps not appropriate for the lede, as the link does not clarify what is or is not a "distributed database system"|date=August 2016}} (together sometimes called a distributed database system). It may be stored in multiple [[computers]], located in the same physical location; or may be dispersed over a [[computer network|network]] of interconnected computers. Unlike [[Parallel computing|parallel systems]], in which the processors are tightly coupled and constitute a single database system, a distributed database system consists of loosely coupled sites that share no physical components.<eod>
<sod>A '''distributed database''' is a [[database]]  in which [[computer data storage|storage devices]] are not all attached to a common [[Processor (computing)|processor]],<ref>http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-012/_1750.htm</ref> and which is controlled by a distributed [[database management system]]{{clarify|perhaps not appropriate for the lede, as the link does not clarify what is or is not a "distributed database system"|date=August 2016}} (together sometimes called a distributed database system). It may be stored in multiple [[computers]], located in the same physical location; or may be dispersed over a [[computer network|network]] of interconnected computers. Unlike [[Parallel computing|parallel systems]], in which the processors are tightly coupled and constitute a single database system, a distributed database system consists of loosely coupled sites that share no physical components.<eod>