Anatomy of a Native XML Database 

Most people in the XML community are aware of the term, "Native XML Database." Fewer are aware of the design details and implementation trade-offs made in construction of a native XML database. This paper focuses on issues surrounding storage in a native XML database. The format of stored XML, as well as the granularity of stored documents, has a large effect on database design and scalability, as well as how a system may be used by an application. Indexing of stored information is another topic that is at the core of XML database performance.

Feinberg, George. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>Databases>XML