We consider a digital library distributed in a tightly coupled environment. The library is indexed by inverted files and the vector space model is used as ranking strategy. Using a simple analytical model coupled with a small simulator, we study how query performance is affected by the index organization, the network speed, and the disks transfer rate. Our results, which are based on the Tipster/Trec3 collection, indicate that a global index organization might outperform a local index organization.
Berthier A. Ribeiro-Neto, Ramurti A. Barbosa