Realization of the Data Processing Model
Scale of STAR computing task lies well beyond past experience and approaching LHC scale (still ~8 years away)
Existing/recent experiments suggest that the lifetime of tried-and-true traditional approaches is already drawing to a close; do not scale to STAR
HEP experiments most closely approximate the STAR scale and can serve as a valuable example and experience base
Widespread movement in this community towards of object-oriented technologies in C++ (OOP, ODBMS)
Some of the strongest advocates of the new technologies are the developers of proven tools extensively used in the past (e.g. ZEBRA, HEPDB, FATMEN), now seen as obsolete